The Monster With No Name
by scandiacamoons
Summary: Everything adds up, one by one in life. The rejection was what caused the rain walk. And the rain walk cause the cold. And the cold caused him to miss two days of class. And missing two days of school caused a certain boy to be waiting in front of Arthur's apartment, debating whether to knock or ring the doorbell. M for swear and some violence. No smut / angsty?
1. The Frost Bitten Heart

The world's filled with many people who have many different ways of finding happiness. Some find it with food, others find it with animals. Many people name these people with rather harsh, rude names. Gluttony, cat woman, etc. But probably the worst are the one that find happiness with money. They are called insensitive, selfish, greedy, inconsiderate, self indulging yet, these people tend to be the most loneliest.

Arthur was someone everyone considered cold. He had plans and he was going to finish them no matter what. His rather unstoppable determination annoyed many, as he fiddled his way, his way to the top. In elementary school when the teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said with the dead face, "to become as rich as possible."

Apart from all these people that find joy in the ways many find is pathetic, there is one group of people many respect. These people are the ones to find happiness from the presence of others. They are everything many aim for. To be happy no matter where they are, no matter what situation they are in, as long as they had the important someone by their side, they would never regret the choices they made to get where they are.

Alfred was liked by many, many, many different people. He tended to influence others not just by his charming personality, but with his want to help others, pushing them forward. He never fail to make one smile.

Alfred had heard of Arthur before. Arthur wasn't very popular but he was rather infamous in the college they went to. Many talked behind his back, and many were even rude to him in his face, the only reason being that Arthur never said anything back, just his eyes were narrowed in his mouth became a straight line. He was like a black void that continuously attract negative attention, sucking it in silently as he kept going on with life.

But Alfred's first impression of Arthur wasn't tainted by the black dye of rumors.

Arthur had heard of Alfred before. Arthur was a silent man that didn't talk to anyone, allowing him to silently keen into people's conversation at times. He never really remembered Alfred's name, but he did know that there was a boy that might as well of been the sun itself. But he didn't have time to worry about others that had nothing to do with himself.

Arthur had goals and his life planned out in front of him, just waiting for the satisfying check symbolizing that it was done, complete, finished, one step closer to being accomplished.

"Arthur, I'm sorry but we're going to have to cancel the marriage arrangement we previously made. We have found someone who is more fit for the position."

And that's all it took for him to crash, to turn off, allowing his instincts to take over as he started his way through the rainy early spring weather. Normally he would've gotten a taxi and paid for the fee when he made it home, but today he felt like walking. Or maybe he didn't want to waste money. Or maybe he just didn't care anymore, because the one door leading to his wished future closed and locked itself from the other side, leaving him like the black void everyone imagine to him to be. Everything he worked for, every determination, every spirit within him sucked up into the void.

Everything adds up, one by one in life. The rejection was what caused the rain walk. And the rain walk cause the cold. And the cold caused him to miss two days of class. And missing two days of school caused a certain boy to be waiting in front of Arthur's apartment, debating whether to knock or ring the doorbell.

Nobody really noticed Arthur's disappearance in class. Or maybe nobody cared, continuing their lives they have lived without Arthur. Only one person noticed, or cared other than the professor that took attendance. And that one person was waiting in front of his door.

The boy decided with ringing the doorbell over knocking, because he was going to need to get Arthur's attention.

He pressed the button and waited, hearing the sound of the bell echo through the apartment room. No one answered.

The boy then debated if he should leave and come back later to try again, for he didn't want to sound rude. He turned around to start walking away, only to turn back because he felt like he still might be coming to the door, his head swiveling back-and-forth.

Suddenly the door opened, revealing what one would call a mess. Arthur's messy hair was flying and sticking up everywhere, his usually crisp cloth choices being nothing less than an oversize shirts and baggy sweat pants.

Arthur stared at Alfred, his eyebrow scrunched up creating wrinkles on the upper part of his nose, his mouth in a scowl, his teeth showing at the corner of his mouth to emphasize the annoyance he was feeling right now. His eyes looked at Alfred, dead.

Alfred jumped up a bit when the door opened. He was both surprised that someone answered the door and seeing Arthur answered the door.

"Well?" Arthur asked in an irritated tone that barely escaped his scowling lips.

"Hello! I'm here to drop off some of the notes and homework you've missed during the two days you've been absent," Alfred said, hoping that his voice sounded confident enough.

Arthur's narrowed eyes softened a bit as he watched Alfred dig through his bag and pull out a pile of paper which was handed to Arthur.

Arthur stared down at the paper, as if he was thinking. He then reached out and took the paper from Alfred who released it instantly and leaned against the side of the wall in his apartment, quickly looking through the piles of paper that had accumulated from the past two days. A sigh quickly escaped his lips as he pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes.

As Alfred looked more closely, he started to notice some things about the boy.

There seemed to be bags under his eyes, which was very prominent because of his unusually pale skin. But what hypnotized Alfred was Arthur's eyes, the normally forest green eyes that never failed to show emotion was dead, like the silent night at midnight

When Alfred snapped out of his gaze, Arthur was leaning forward to grab onto the doorknob. He kept his head lowered a bit before he looked up and said, "Thank you Mr. um..."

"Jones," Alfred quickly replied, his arms falling to the side as he felt his back straighten. "Alfred F. Jones"

"Hm, yes Mr. Jones. Thank you for bringing in all of my stuff to me and I'm sorry that you had to be forced to do this. Anyway, thank you and goodbye."

The door closed with a click right when he finished talking, leaving Alfred a bit stunned. He then turned around and started to walk down the stairs, making his way back to his apartment in a bit of a giddy mood.

To tell the truth, Alfred actually wasn't forced to go deliver the assignments. He more or likely volunteered to do it. He did it all on his own free will to see one thing.

Alfred placed his ear buds into his ear and began to hum a song even though nothing was playing. His pace ranged from slow to fast, depending on the beat that he was humming.

Back at the apartment room, Arthur was slowly making his way to the end of the hallway where his bedroom was. He shuffled his eyes lightly through the mass of paper, not soaking up any information before he threw them onto his desk. The paper at the top shifted a bit from the force of being thrown and landing on a surface. He then maneuver his way around the clothes, or to be more exact, the suit that was randomly thrown on the floor in his bedroom.

He let out an "umph" when he landed on his bed before throwing his comforter over himself because he felt cold, freezing. Something scratched his throat as he let out a dry cough to temporarily relieving the aching and stress that had built up since he answered the door.

Alfred smiled as Arthur frowned.

OOOOOOOOO

Arthur continue to miss more classes. A few days passed and Alfred decided to go to Arthur's house again, to not only to give him his missed assignments but to check up on him as well.

When the clock struck a certain time, their professor announced the lesson was over before he proceeded to shoo students away, many of them waking up from their slumber. The students then stood up and walked toward the exit, except for Alfred who was jumping down the stairs to where their professor was packing up.

"Do you need something?" The professor question, barely looking up from his bag packing.

"Ah, I was planning on going by Mr. Kirkland's again so I was wondering if I could get any assignments you have left over for him," Alfred said, leaning back and balancing on the heels of shoe as he looked a bit to the side. The professor stopped his bag packing and pulled out a few pieces of paper which he handed to Alfred, and threw his bag over her shoulder before he too exited out the door.

Alfred look down at the papers he received, making sure the professor had given him everything he needed as made is way to the exit.

Sometime passed with Alfred walking alone until he was joined by someone who tapped on his shoulder.

"Emily! Hey, what are you doing here?" Alfred questioned after he turned around. Emily flash a smile, showing her straight white teeth before she began talking.

"Me and my friends were wondering if you wanted to join us to watch the football game today," she said as she pointed toward a group of people who were crowded by the side of a building. A guy noticed that they were looking at them and waved at Emily, causing some of the others to turn around and wave as well.

Alfred took his gaze off the crowd to look back at Emily, who was smiling at him in a hopeful way.

"Sorry Em, but I actually have to go somewhere," Alfred said, shaking the papers in his hand. "I need to head by Kirkland's to give him his missing papers."

Emily, instead of looking disappointed, looked back at Alfred with the pitiful expression. Alfred looked back to her, a bit surprised.

"Well, I need to go but I'll make sure to go to the next game!" He said before his pace quickened toward the front gates. Emily yelled out goodbye before she too fast walk toward the chatty group by the side of the building.

It didn't take too long for Alfred to get Arthur's apartment. Well, not too long for Alfred standards for he was used to walking a far distance to get to his apartment. His shoe hit the smooth hard surface of the stairs creating a slight tap noise as he walked up to the fourth floor, finding himself once again waiting nervously in front of the door.

But this time instead of debating on whether knock or ring the doorbell, he was already pressing the doorbell.

Just like last time, no one came right away. Just like last time, Alfred started to wonder if he was gone and if he he should leave. And just like last time, Arthur open the door.

Right when Arthur poked his head out from the door, Alfred noticed many things.

Arthur's hair looked greasy and Arthur look sweaty and Arthur's face looked even paler and Arthur's eyes had darker bags and Arthur's eyes look tired and Arthur looked-

"I'm guessing you're here to give me the assignments again?" Arthur barely managed to say. Alfred snapped out of his deep thoughts and nodded his head in affirmative. He then raised his hand holding the paper up to Arthur, who weakly pulled it out of his hands before flipping through the papers. Alfred return to looking at him.

A dry cough came out from Arthur after he raised a clenched fist to cover his mouth. Alfred felt himself winch a bit as he furrowed his brows. Not too long after, Arthur let out another cough, his arm holding the paper falling to his side.

"Well thank you again Mr. Jones," Arthur said before he reached out for the door handle. Alfred stepped back a bit to let the door by even though he wasn't in its way, as he watched Arthur. Arthur seemed to be moving slower, as if he was really tired, trying with all his might to accomplish such an easy everyday task.

Alfred stood there until there was a tiny gap left before the door would close in which Arthur quickly glanced up, reminding Alfred how much his eye lacked of emotion, causing something in Alfred burst as he opened his mouth and reached out, to Arthur.

Click.

The door closed before he could do anything.

Just like last time, he saw Arthur. Just like last time, Arthur called his name. And just like last time he was thanked. But unlike last time, instead of a feeling of satisfaction and a bit of happiness, he felt horrible, disappointed, and a bit down for not being able to do anything.

And unlike last time, someone fell to the floor on the other side of the door.

It was almost as if someone blasted it through a microphone, in slow motion. Alfred heard everything, from the scattering of the paper, to the noise of the watch Arthur wore hitting the wooden floor. His instincts caused him to fling the door that was in his way to open as he looked at a man lying down. Alfred quickly chucked his backpack and kicked his shoes off before he ran and kneeled right next to Arthur.

In his panicking mind his first thought was the hospital, which he quickly dismissed for it didn't seem like it was anything horribly serious. He flipped Arthur over to his back before reaching down and touching Arthur's sweaty forehead, a tremendous amount of heat entering his body. Without a second wasted Alfred picked up Arthur and began looking through each room for a bed, which fortunately because the lack of rooms the apartment had, didn't take that long.

The room was dark, causing Alfred to almost trip over some of the clothes that was thrown onto the ground. He gently placed Arthur onto the bed, fixing the pillow under his head until it seemed comfortable to Alfred, before throwing the comforter lightly over him and making sure that he was tucked in tightly.

His panic started to diminish as he registered that Arthur was now safe, noticing the boy was starting to pant, in a slow and steady pace.

Alfred stood up, pulling his jacket down a bit as he came down with the conclusion that he should leave, for it wasn't like he got permission to even come into his house. As he made it to the door to the room, he turned around to look at Arthur and bite down on his lip, before making his way to the entrance door.

As he walked down the hallway, he finally took notice of the big mess Arthur made with all of the papers on the ground, and before he knew it he was picking up the papers, sorting them back in their original order before going back into Arthur's room to place them on the desk in a neat stack.

As he planned to leave this time he stepped onto one of the clothes on the ground, quickly raising his foot up when noticing that it was still damp. He scooped it up and shook it, to see that he was holding onto a suit coat. Alfred looked over at Arthur in a questioning look, wondering what caused this organized man to leave such an expensive item laying around, in such bad shape. All the Briton did was pant. Alfred moved over to reach down and pick up another mound of cloth which, as he guessed, were the pants to the suit. He spared Arthur another glance before he began searching through each of the rooms for a washing machine in which he threw the clothes in.

Finally, he went to the entrance door and bent down to put on his shoes, until he began to wonder if Arthur was going to get hungry. He debated for a short time, only to once again postponed leaving and entered the kitchen, grabbing anything food he could find in the fridge or the cabinets, along with a pot. He quickly filled the pot up with broth and placed it on the burner, pulling out a cutting board as he placed some carrots and onions onto it. He finished dicing both of the vegetable and threw them into the soup before washing the cutting board down with the soapy sponge that was placed at the corner of the sink. The soap glided down into the sink as he rinsed it down with water as he grabbed onto a towel to wipe it so he could place it back into its original spot. A hum emitted from his mouth to keep himself company in this silent room as he finished the mess he created.

He looked down at his watch, taking note of the time it was and what time we was going to have to end up leaving, if he wanted to make it to work. As air bubbles arose up to the top of the broth, Alfred found himself a bit bored, and decided to look around, and see what else he could discover about Arthur, that he had yet to know about.

The ratio of food and microwave food proved to Alfred that Arthur did not cook or didn't have enough time to cook. The mass of books on the shelves told Alfred that Arthur definitely enjoyed reading in his spare time, especially the collection of Sherlock Holmes and Shakespeare for how much their bind's were worn out after years and years of reading. And he was able to conclude he didn't like his family too much, for the lack of pictures that were placed in the room.

The only picture he found was of Arthur and a boy, who seemed to wearing a young sailor's uniform. Arthur was sitting down with the boy nuzzles up, sleeping on his shoulder as he pushed the boys bangs to the side. The light was hitting directly on both of their faces, illumination the soft smile that was presented upon Arthur's lips as he looked down at the boy, his eyes expressing a bittersweet feeling.

Alfred reached out and gently picked up the simple metal border to raise the picture closer to his face, so he could look at that smile, that was trapped for eternity in that thin sheet, for people to admire at. He couldn't help but also smile, as he remembered about a memory that would for sure be forever trapped in his mind no matter what.

It was a rainy day. Not like a downpour or anything horrible but a slight drizzle that would annoy anyone. But this was the most memorable day for Alfred for he got to see everything first handed. The child's rain boot splashing into the puddle causing countless more raindrops to fall to the ground, the collision of the two forces grabbing ahold of each other, holding themselves tight as if their world should shatter the moment they loosen up their grip in the slightest, and them falling to the ground, causing mud to smear on each others clothes which they ignored, not minding it in the slightest as their smiling faces radiated brightness and light on such a gloomy gray day. The older man's eyes shined with a great green luminescence as it smiled down at the sea blue eyes which looked up with just as much enthusiasm.

Arthur and the boy held onto each other that day, not caring about anything that was going on in the world, soaking in both rain and mud as they smiled and laughed with each other.

That was the first time Alfred F. Jones ever saw Arthur Kirkland, three years ago.

And that was the first time Alfred F. Jones fell in love at first sight.

The sound of bubbles popping became audible for Alfred to hear, causing him to rush over to stir the soup, a stupid childish smile plastered on his face. He began tasting it, noticing the lack of salt which he quickly began searching for through the cupboards.

"What are you doing here?" A voice came from the entrance of the kitchen, causing Alfred to jump a bit in surprise. He turned around and was greeted by Arthur, who was frowning toward Alfred in a confused way. The comforter was loosely draped around his shoulders but wrapped around tightly enough for everywhere but his head and shoulders to be covered. His eyes stared back, dull and barely alive.

"Good afternoon to you too!" Alfred replied, hoping to sweeten the mood a bit, which proved to be ineffective when Arthur demanded what he was doing here again.

"I'm just helping you out," Alfred said as he stirred the soup. A sigh came from the doorway leading to a moment of silence that wasn't broken for a while.

"I don't need your help so please, just get out," came from the doorway of the room. Alfred spun around to look Arthur, who was leaning against the wall, his hand placed on his face.

"I don't think I can do that. You obviously need help anyway-"

"Just get out,"

"But you-"

"Just leave! All you're here is to see me weak! To see me pathetic and worthless," Arthur suddenly vented out toward Alfred, who stared back at him with a tightly closed mouth."You guys are all the same anyways," he then mumbled.

Pathetic and worthless was the last words he wanted to hear, and especially coming from Arthur, who always seemed to be able to stay strong even when he didn't have anyone's support or be by his side. Alfred didn't like to see Arthur describing himself in such a sorry way, almost as if dehumanizing his own self. A bit of anger boiled up as he replied.

"That's not true!"

"Oh yea! Then bloody hell tell me how that isn't true!"

Alfred stood there, thinking for a reply. There was no way he was going to tell him about his feelings, not in the least. Definitely when the person would obviously reject him. He didn't want to lose such a chance to be with him like this.

"Exactly. Now please just leave."

"No." Alfred said in a deep voice, more like a command then a reply.

Arthur stared back at Alfred, surprised and stunned by the sudden determination coming from him. Alfred eyes furrowed as his dominant side took over, until he noticed Arthur flinching back a bit, worried, scared of him. He began blinking, disassembling the side he tried so hard to repress over the years of his life, and gave him a fake smile.

"Because I'm the hero you know. I want to help out the people that are in need of my help," he said before a chuckled a bit dryly, his hand itching the back of his head.

He shined his white teeth toward Arthur, who was finally regaining some strength after the rather surprising event.

"Well I don't need it. As you can see I am working perfectly fine without you," he said as he snapped back, his head tilted back a bit as he glared at Alfred, whose smile was becoming more and more genuine as he noticed something in his eyes. Arthur suddenly turned around a bit to the side to let out a dry cough.

"No, you need my help. You passed out earlier today and I have no idea what will happen if you I let you cook by yourself, so just let me finish. I'm almost done anyway," Alfred said in an insisting tone to Arthur.

Arthur stood there as he thought, whether to go against Alfred or agree. Arthur knew he was in no condition of taking care of himself but the idea of having someone else take care of him dented his pride, or what was left of it after that night. Remembering about the night caused darkness to fall upon Arthur once again, his eyes drifting back to vast nothingness as his mind went blank. Everything was over, everything was gone. He failed to do the one thing he spent his life working on and there was nothing to get it back. The door closed and locked Arthur in the darkness, for what he hoped was for forever as punishment for the failure.

"Hey? You there?" A questioning voice that was filled with worry rang through his ears as he snapped out of his dark state. "You okay there?"

"Fine," Arthur said, surprising Alfred, his voice filled with no emotion Alfred could identify. "Do whatever you want, I don't care anymore."

Alfred would have felt happy about being able to stay with Arthur a bit longer, but the couldn't help but feel a great amount of loss. He looked over toward Arthur as he stirred the soup, watching the boy that was staring down at the ground with a blank expression as if he was lost.

Alfred couldn't help but feel like he failed as a hero.

Silence clogged up the room like a poisonous gas, choking away any ideas Alfred had for a conversation starter. He began humming again, hoping to take both of their minds off of the tense atmosphere to a lighter one.

The silence continued on.

Onions and carrot chops rose up to the surface of the soup as Alfred kept stirring, taking in a sip every now and then to see if the flavor was right. Arthur was walking toward the bookshelf in a slow but swift motion, the comforter trailing behind him like a train, coughing every now and then. He stood in front of it for a while, his eyes scanning through the titles of books on each shelf until he came upon the picture. His ghost eyes looked at the picture, before his gaze was casted to the side, the hand not holding the comforter gently laying the frame flat, the picture of an everlasting memory, covered.

The soup was done. It was done for a while. Alfred just wanted to stay, an excuse to be with him longer. It hurt, truly, to see him feeling so down. He wanted to reach out, maybe even hold, hold him tight. He had no idea why he was down and he wanted to know, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask him what was going on, for they only first started talking a few days ago.

"You should lie down. You need to rest if you want to get better," Alfred mumbled a bit, trying to be quiet enough for him not to hear at the same time hoping that he did hear him. He turned his head to look over at Arthur, who was shuffling around, raising the comforter higher and tighter around himself as he shivered. Alfred assumed he didn't hear.

Arthur actually heard him, loud and clear to be truthful. He just wanted him to leave, to let him erode by himself in his house, alone. The last thing he wanted was another person to worry about, but he knew that this was going to be the end to their relationship. Arthur's personality was cold on purpose, not in nature.

Alfred looked at his watch, to get his mind off of things but unfortunately, it only caused panic to surge inside of him as he began frantically moving toward the door. He grabbed onto one of his shoes, leaned on the wall and hopped toward the door as he tried to put his shoe on.

"The soup is ready so eat it while it's still hot! And make sure to sleep and keep yourself hydrated!" Alfred shouted while putting on his other shoe. Arthur looked at the pot boiling on the stove, bubbles bursting as it bubbled with warmth. He kept his feet planted at the base of the bookshelf.

The sound of the door closing echoed through the apartment, telling Arthur that Mr. Jones finally left, left him alone. He crouched down and wrapped the comforter around his body, keeping himself in the dark. He wanted to just wash away, disappear along with the shadows in the life of just following orders. Figures stood around him, pointing, laughing, mocking him as he sunk deeper and deeper into the forever darkness, away from reality. He was falling, falling, falling, falling, and-

Arthur unconsciously sniffed the air, the aroma of different flavors misting together for the tasteful smell. Something in his stomach rumbled, reminding him that as long as he was human, as long as he was alive, he was going to have to follow the game rules of natural instincts. He flipped the comforter from his face, squinting from the sudden bright light blinding his vision as he craned his neck to the pot on the stove once again. Arthur silently pushed himself up, keeping a good grasp around the comforter wrapped around him like a cape, keeping everywhere warm except for his hands, face, and legs that were moving forward to the kitchen.

He stared down at the pot, shivering a bit from the warmth that gently touched his face. The soup was light brown, the onion and carrots bobbing on the surface, the slightly visible steam rising up and diverging to go around Arthur's face. And with that he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, pouring the warm liquid, watching the chunks slip from the scoop into the bowl.

After pouring in a fair amount of soup, he turned around, and slowly lowered himself to the ground, leaning against the lower cabinets. The comforter stayed, wrapped around his shoulders, keeping his legs, stomach, chest, and arms warm while the soup heated his hands and the steam warmed his face.

The only thing cold was the frost bitten heart.

Arthur took in another deep whiff, before unconsciously taking in a gulp. It was hot, scorching hot, but heated up his body, his stomach feeling warm in a pleasing way. He sighed right when he finished taking in the gulp, only to engorge in another sip, the flavor clashing onto Arthur's tastebuds.

He ate to his hearts content that night.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day was a fairly gloomy day, the sun covered by darkening clouds. Alfred left work later than he expected, mostly as punishment for coming in late the day before. He looked up at the sky, taking note on how the clouds looked like they were ready to spill at any moment. When he left the supermarket, it was drizzling.

Alfred made it to Arthur's apartment after running for about five minutes, his clothes sticking onto him like a second skin. He pulled out his backpack that was tucked under his jacket, making sure that the contents in there were dry, thankful that he wore his thick bomber jacket today. Alfred felt himself shiver slightly before he rang the doorbell.

The door opened slowly, cracked open enough for Arthur to peek one eye. After noticing Arthur, Alfred pulled out a plastic bag from his bag, the name of a supermarket written in bold letters as he gave him a toothy grin. Arthur shut the door with a slam.

"Oh come on! Just let me in," Alfred yelled, shocked by the sudden action of the other boy. He banged on the door a bit, before sighing with little hope. What was he expecting? He stayed over Arthur's house without permission and even used his kitchen, stayed even when Arthur told him to leave, leave from his own house. He gently placed the grocery bag on the cold floor, combing his hand through his soaking hair.

Arthur was panicking on the other side of the door. What was he doing here? Why would he even come back? And with food this time too. His mind raced with question after unanswered question, confused about what Mr. Jones was even thinking. He sunk down onto his bottom, leaning against the door as he buried his head into his arms.

On the other side, Alfred was now sitting down, also leaning against the door as he waited for the slight chance of being let into Arthur's house. He took off his glasses and wiped them, removing the rain droplets stuck on the lenses.

The two waited, waited for the other to do something. Arthur kept hoping that the American would leave while Alfred kept hoping that the Briton would open the door and let him in. He even cracked the door open at one point, only to see the American sitting, waiting, hoping. He quickly closed it without a second of thought.

Arthur didn't understand. He was confused, very very confused. Why would someone want to come back, to him of all people? Mr. Jones seemed like a nice person that probably had a fair amount of friends. Why doesn't he hang out with them, then just some man that was sick with the fever? It didn't add up, what-so-ever to Arthur as he kept his head buried.

What he didn't know was Alfred would do anything, anything to help him out. He was a hero after all right? He just wanted to help him, to get him back, for him to return back to normal. And maybe if he was lucky, score some extra points on their relationship meter. He wouldn't do this for anyone else but Arthur. He just never had a real chance to show it.

Some time passed and Arthur felt the lack of the comforter getting to him. He then slowly pushed himself up, one hand placed on the wall to balance himself as he began inching toward his room. Until he heard a sneeze coming from the other side of the door.

He stood there for a bit, before he rushed over to his room to grab onto the comforter. After wrapping it around him he pushed the shades, welcomed by the view of downpour.

Alfred was freezing. Gusts of winds swept by him, chilling him to the bone as he huddled by the door. He thought multiple times about giving up, to leaving the groceries and change into warm clothes as he looked up at the sky. He couldn't see the sun, the sky darkening for night was descending at a quick pace. Yet, he was still worried about Arthur, whether if he was eating and sleeping and keeping himself hydrated. Just another minute, he kept reminding himself. Just another-just another-just-

Alfred felt pressure on his back and leaned forward, allowing the door Arthur was pushing to open up, enough for his face to be visible. Alfred stood there, a bit startled that he actually did open the door as Arthur twisted his neck, facing away from Alfred.

"Just get in here…"

Alfred barely heard Arthur mumble as he jumped up and suddenly pulled Arthur into a hug. His teeth clattered a bit as Arthur stood like a rock, petrified.

"Thank god," Arthur heard Alfred whisper as he held Arthur tighter, the wetness soaking into the Briton. Arthur felt horrible. He let the only person that would come by his house to give assignments as well as help him when he was sick and make food. And it also seemed like he was too much of a stubborn git to even understand what he was doing to his body.

So no matter how uncomfortable Arthur felt that moment, he didn't think it would be right of him to push the other away. He couldn't just refuse him, he couldn't just force him to go home like that.

They stood for a while, Alfred feeling warmer as Arthur felt colder. A wind whipped by, reminding the two they were still outside, the door open. Alred was the first to move.

He jumped back, his body, especially his face heating up as he rubbed his neck. He wasn't sure how Arthur was going to react, so he kept his gaze to the side, picking up his backpack and plastic bag. A nervous smile formed on his face as he turned to look at the door, only to see Arthur's back as he walked down the hallway. Another gust of wind came, pushing Alfred into the apartment, as if rooting him on.

Arthur turned into his room, disappearing from Alfred's sight as he sat down to pull his shoes off. Water dripped from the inside of the shoe onto the floor, some accumulating together to form a small puddle.

Something fell on Alfred's head, his arms shot up to touch the item, the soft fluffy fabric tangible against his skin. He looked up, some droplets of water racing down his face and trailing down to his shirt which soaked it up.

"Do whatever you want and leave," Arthur said before throwing some neatly folded clothes next to Alfred and returned back into his room.

Alfred shook his head as he secured the towel with his hands, droplets flying everywhere. He then jumped into the bathroom and quickly changed into the clothes Arthur gave him. He slipped on the pants, his ankles cold from the lack of length and his movements a bit stiff because of the tight shirt. He sighed and knew this was going to have to do for now as he looked at himself. He laughed at himself silently.

He left the towel hanging around his neck as he walked over to the kitchen with the bag of groceries. This time he planned on making pancakes, something his brother taught him to do. He couldn't make them as great as Matthew, but he was proud of how well he could cook, coming from a family whose diet was mostly Mickey D's.

Steam rose up from the pan and the butter sizzled as Alfred mixed the ingredients together to create the batter, thick and yellowish. He scooped up the batter and spilled it on the pan, trying his best to make a perfect circle. He then took off his glasses as he wiped his forehead with his arm, before cleaning the lenses that fogged up a bit from the steam. His hair was mostly dry now, the stubborn cowlick that was flat from the rain now pointing straight up.

Alfred became combing his hair with his hand, hoping to be able to get the askew strands to go back in their normal place. His other hand reached out to open a drawer, pulling out a spatula as he hummed a bit, swaying a bit in the beat. His mind drifted into the song, as he spun around and flipped the spatula in the air and flawlessly caught it before he gave a pose, his arm raised up high as he leaned on one side.

"Just get your shenanigans over with and leave," came from the door. Alfred jumped back to see Arthur standing by the door once again. Deja vu echoed through Alfred's mind as he gave him a weary smile, embarrassed and wondering if he watched the whole dance.

"Tonights pancakes!" He said with excitement, directing his attention back to the burning pancakes. One was forming with bubbles while the other pancake in the pan was still gooey all around. Alfred stiffen as he felt the comforter around Arthur gracefully touch his skin, barely noticeable yet so obvious to Alfred. Arthur was reaching up to one of the cupboards and pulled out a cup, went to another to pull out a box of tea bags, and unplugged the electric pot before stacking them all together and leaving the kitchen.

Alfred stared at the doorway for a while, wondering if he gave off the wrong vibe to Arthur. He slouched a bit as he looked back down at the pancakes, not looking as pleasing and ready as they did a few seconds ago. He flawlessly forced the spatula under the pancake and flipped it over, the golden brown color blotted on the baked side of the pancake. When flipping he caused the smell of pancakes to waft up toward him, giving a mouth watering feast for his nose. Then an idea sprung in his mind.

They were both ready when he decided to follow his plan. He kept them in the pan though, for it was easier to carry as he walked toward Arthur's room. Alfred turned the doorknob and slightly kicked the door open, surprising Arthur who was sitting in his desk, impatiently waiting for the water to heat up for his tea. He scowled up at Alfred, confused on what he was planning.

Alfred then waved the pan around, holding himself back with the other. He flashed the confused Arthur with a smile before he shut the door.

One of Arthur's eyebrows rose up with a questioning look. He returned to anxiously waiting for the water to heat up, until he understood why Alfred came in his room.

Arthur felt his mouth water as he inhaled the scent of the burned butter and pancakes. His stomach rumbled a bit, his nose desperately wanting more. Arthur smashed his fists onto the table in frustration, his mind remembering that he hadn't had anything since the night before. He then proceeded to push himself up as he pulled the plug to the electric heater and headed out to the kitchen with a defeated sigh.

On the table was a stack of 3 pancakes, the butter square melting on the top, the maple syrup waiting next to the plate. Alfred was humming again.

Arthur sat down in the chair, more like slumping down with defeat. He raised the fork silverware in his hands, unused to the cool touch because of the overuse of plastic. He glanced over to Alfred who was still making pancakes, showing no sign of stopping.

Arthur sighed again as he reached up for the maple syrup, pouring the thick sugary liquid that usually would have disgusted him onto his stack of pancakes. He pressed the fork down on the top of the pancakes, the spongy breakfast food splitting softly. He then sunk the fangs of the fork into the pancake, inspecting it before he stuffed it in his mouth. It tasted like something he would never admit bluntly. Delicious.

Arthur kept munching it down, bite by bite, chew by chew.

"You want anything a drink?" Alfred turned around to ask, only to restrain his laughter at Arthur who had small chipmunk cheeks stuffed with food. Alfred was mostly done now, waiting for his last batch to be cooked as he went over to the fridge, pulling out some orange juice. Arthur gave him another questioned look, shuffling through his mind to remember when he even bought some.

Alfred cleared the confusion by stating that he brought it along with him today.

He pulled out two glasses, pouring the juice into both, watching the orange substance steadily rise to the top. The two cups were picked up and placed on the table before he got his plate of pancakes. Alfred sat down excited, as he poured the maple syrup, the bottle getting close to being empty. He then cut simultaneously through 3 pancakes, stabbing them all with his fork before attacking the delicious meal.

The rest of the meal went silent, along with some loud chewing noises and slurping noises from Alfred. Alfred kept looking up toward Arthur as he chewed on his food, trying to strike up a conversation. But Arthur kept his head down, staring down at the pancakes he was slowly eating away. Alfred sighed in defeat, but in a way, he didn't want to start up a conversation because he would have to maybe deal with rejection. But sadly for Alfred, he hated boredom and silence more.

"How are you feeling?" Alfred asked, deciding on a safe question that wouldn't raise any suspicion. Arthur stopped chewing for a moment, his fork slowly lowering down before he looked up and continued chewing. He swallowed and took a swift gulp of orange juice, keeping his eyes averted after making quick contact with Alfred's.

He stabbed another piece of a syrup soaked pancake and shoved it into his mouth, the size a bit too big for he began flinching forward, his eyes watering up as he tried to swallow the piece. Alfred jumped up and rushed over to Arthur's side, to tap his back a bit as he raised the glass near Arthur's face.

"Calm down and drink some," Alfred commanded in a worrisome tone. Without arguing Arthur took the cup with both of his hands, one clasping over Alfred's and gulped half of the glass down, his adam's apple bobbing up and down after each gulp. He then lowered the glass, releasing a sigh of relief when his lips parted open to breath again. Alfred also sighed with relief, but only momentarily.

He noticed the placement of both of his hands, stiffening as he felt his whole body heat up, his chest vibrating with a feeling he had rarely felt. It felt uncontrollable. He pulled his hand back from under Arthur's subtle grasp, starting him, before Alfred jumped back, away from Arthur.

Arthur stared a bit stunned, but quickly returned to looking at the half eaten stack of pancakes. Alfred stiffly walked back over to his seat, his chest thumping as he sat down. He closed his eyes tightly, his mind in a confused state of panic and excitement as he thought joyously on how such a little contact could set so much off. His lips suckered into a smile as he raised his fork to eat more pancakes.

Arthur felt humiliated. He didn't want Mr. Jones to be here in the first place, and he absolutely did not wish he saw and helped him in such a weak state. Arthur felt useless and a bit pathetic, after showing a horrible blunder on his part. After shaming himself for a bit he looked up to Alfred, who happily munched on his share of dinner, like a child. Kinda like, Peter-

Arthur shook his head lightly and returned back to eating. He needed to get Peter out of his mind, he needed to forget about him for now. Because, because…

There was nothing he could do for him now.

After he lost it all.

Arthur unconsciously pulled the comforter tighter around himself, the sudden strange movement catching Alfred's eye. He looked up at Arthur, noticing the other's eyes, dull. Something in his chest tugged painfully at his heart.

Arthur lowered the fork onto the plate, raising his knees up to his face to bury his head, himself, away from the light, into the soft unreachable depths of the comforter.

Alfred watched as the other hugged his knees, the mob of hair scattered everywhere in a mess, like always. He opened his mouth to say something, to reach out to him, until he noticed how actually far away he was. Too far away. The distance was something the American couldn't easily jump, as he did for most people. To connect a path, a path leading the both together. He clenched the fork tightly and bit his lip as he looked down at his plate, defeated.

The hero couldn't save his prince, again.

Alfred quickly gobbled down the flavorless carbohydrate, taking both his and Arthur's plate up to the sink. He assumed he was finished. He then started washing the dishes, which seemed to take both long and short amount of time. Not enough time to spend with Arthur, and too much time spent in silent. Alfred dug through the cabinets and drawers for saran wrap, to save the leftovers for Arthur if he got hungry. But he knew he wasn't going to eat unless forced too. Today proved it to him.

He opened the fridge, easily finding a spot because lack of food in the shelves. He shoved the plate in, creating a slight tink noise with something next to it. Alfred pushed the plate to the side to see what caused the noise, a bit surprised to see a certain pot that he may or may not have used the day before. All he knew was that it wasn't there the day before when he was snooping around to find more about Arthur Kirkland.

It didn't take long for Alfred to finish. To have all of the plates stacked in their original spots and the silverware placed in their specific spots. He turned around to see Arthur, the comforter making a very steady pace down his shoulders. But before they could fall down enough, Arthur grabbed and pulled them even high, this time making sure that only tiny tufts of his hair showed.

Alfred patted his pants with his hands, drying them off as he debated what to do. He looked down at his watch, and quickly glanced out the window, the outside world almost entirely black. He concluded that he should head home.

When he went to the bathroom to find the clothes he originally changed out of, he discovered they were gone, leaving him a bit puzzled in where he may have placed it. He went to his bag to see if he left it there, finding only a slightly damp backpack along with his sneakers. Alfred began thinking, wondering if maybe he left it somewhere he forgot or maybe, just maybe, there were some ghost lurking around in this apartment. He shivered to that thought even though he knew it was ridiculous.

All of a sudden a beeping noise emitted from down the hallway, startling Alfred as he frantically spun around. He looked over to Arthur, wondering if he should ask him about the beeping, finding him still huddled up in the chair. In the end he decided to go look for the source on his own.

Alfred was able to track the beeping noise to the room where the laundry was done, the mystery of the missing clothes quickly solved. He opened the door of the dryer, to find a fresh, warm set of clothes the American wore when he came here earlier today. Alfred felt himself smile.

He quickly changed, his body literally enveloping in warmth as he hugged his jacket, smelling a bit sweet. Alfred flung his coat lightly over his shoulders as he held onto a neatly folded pile of the clothes he fortunately got to use, going back to give it to Arthur. He decided to leave it on the table.

He looked down at Arthur one more time, the Briton not moving a single bit. He turned around to walk out the kitchen, the words, "good night," barely making it out.

The door was softly closed behind Alfred as he left Arthur back alone, the only source of light being the kitchen light gloomly lighting down on Arthur.

Alfred took in a deep breath, his lungs chilling a bit as he admired the weather right now. Damp, moist, humid, but no rain. He took a step, starting his long journey back to his apartment.

Puddles littered the pavement, a few cars driving by slowly, its headlights illuminating Alfred's back. His socks were now becoming wet, the water remaining from his shoes seeping into the sock during every step. Alfred shoved his hands into his pocket, slouching a bit as he squinted to see the road more clearly, even though he had glasses. Surrounding him was just a dull neighborhood, the occasional dog running up to Alfred to only be stopped by a fence or a leash. So he decided to look up at the sky.

Alfred's eyes widened as he admired what he would consider a rare sight, his eye catching every gleam the stars that were billions of miles away were sending. He released a puff of air from amazement, turning his head for the full view of the dotted sky. A large smile spread across his face as he began looking forward to the next day.

And maybe one day, one day, Alfred thought, that he and Arthur could both look at these stars, together.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Alfred never stopped coming. The next day was just a cloudy day and Alfred appeared with the ingredients of macaroni and cheese. Their conversation went nowhere and the day ended with Arthur leaving to go to his room.

The day after that Alfred came with the ingredients for chicken noodle soup. Arthur couldn't fathom why he was still coming, but he gave up, letting Alfred do anything we wanted. The day ended with Arthur bringing his dishes to the sink.

That next day Alfred heated up leftovers from the day before and the day ended with Arthur leaving the kitchen, mumbling "good night".

The next day Alfred came and had hotdogs and Arthur staggered behind Alfred before he left to go back home.

That next day Alfred brought some McDonalds, earning a little scowl and complaint from Arthur.

And that next day Alfred made eggs, and Arthur helped him with the dishes.

The week passed rather quickly for Alfred. He was thinking more about what he should make for dinner for him and Arthur, causing himself to get yelled at by his boss for slacking, day dreaming when he should have been doing his assigned job. He didn't mind though, he just wanted to go to Arthur.

Today's shift ended later than he expected, much much later. The moon was constantly being covered by clouds that were moving in a fast pace, his shadow appearing and disappearing as he walked to the apartment building. His feet ached a bit as he looked up at the building, happy to know he finally made it.

He quickly skipped up to the fourth floor and knocked on the door, anxiously looking around as he waited for Arthur to open the door. There was a clattering noise from the other side, bewildering Alfred as he became more and more impatient. The door finally opened.

"Mr. Jones! I thought you wouldn't come today!" A voiced yelled, shocking Alfred. Arthur leaned on the door knob towards Alfred, a worried yet relieved expression in his face. A childish smile appeared before he grabbed onto Alfred's hand and began frantically trying to pulling him inside, only to be able move him a tiny bit. Alfred was part of a football team when he was in high school, and he was proud to say he got into varsity. But football was more of a hobby rather than a career choice and ended up aiming for engineering, to invent new stuff. He was happy he followed this path, even when many told him he could have gone far in life if he followed his talent, for he was able to meet Arthur.

Arthur looked up at Alfred, puffing his cheeks up in frustration. Alfred looked at him with wide eyes, his face burning up from recognizing how adorable Arthur looked, suddenly pulling his arm away from Arthur's grasp and raised it to cover the bottom half of his face. Arthur stared up at him in confusion before he gave up and decided to go back inside.

Arthur's foot made a slit tapping sound as he jogged sloppily back to the kitchen after the moment he could not comprehend. Alfred kept staring away for a while, hoping that the air was helping him cool down his body after that sudden reaction. When he thought it was safe enough he entered the apartment, wondering what he should expect to happen.

When Alfred walked into the kitchen, Arthur was taking a big gulp of a drink. Alfred cautiously walked to the opposite side of where Arthur was sitting, watching him as he slowly lowered himself into the seat. Arthur's mouth made a sound when breaking contact with the bottle, and raised the hand to Alfred, his head slightly bobbing up and down as he kept his face looking at the ground.

Alfred hesitated about taking the bottle for a swig, pointing out all of the pros and cons to the idea. But before he was able to come down with a conclusion, Arthur's head flung up, revealing a wide grin, his eyes scrunched up until they were shut. Alfred quickly grabbed the bottle and paused again before taking a big gulp.

He lightly placed the bottle down onto the table, grimacing a bit from the burning sensation in his throat. The bottle was quickly taken away by Arthur, for another swig as Alfred stared in amazement on how much the boy could drink. Arthur slowly lowered the bottle, swinging it lightly back and forth to emphasize the fact that there was nothing left from the lack of sound. He then got up to go to one of the cabinets, pulling out another bottle before placing the empty one next to another empty bottle.

Alfred kept watching Arthur as he dug out a bottle opener and popped the bottle open, the bent metal top landing on the counter. Alfred knew this wasn't going to end well. Nothing ended well with alcohol and Alfred spoke from experience. His parents tended to drink when they got too stressed out and he had been to multiple parties when he was high school as well as some since he came to college. And they all ended in disaster.

Arthur raised the bottle to his lips for another swig, and as if reading Alfred's mind, he lowered the bottle back down to the table slowly. Alfred watched, not sure what to expect as Arthur opened his mouth.

"Let's play a game!" Alfred gazed at him in confusion. Arthur just smiled back, making it seem like a stupid joke. Alfred could tell the smile was there just to make Alfred feel reassured that Arthur was fine.

"Like, what?" Alfred asked curiously. Arthur hadn't really shown him anything, hadn't really done anything with Alfred at all in the past week. And now he was doing this, whatever this was called. Alfred was beyond amused on how much this boy could surprise him.

"Let's ask each other questions," Arthur quietly said to him, leaning forward and whispering as if they were sharing top secret information. Alfred also leaned forward, glancing to his left and right before he said, "what type of questions?"

Arthur unconsciously let out some giggles and leaned back in his chair to get a full view of Alfred. It was a shame that he just noticed the attractive features of Alfred when he was drunk.

"Why are you so attractive-?" He asked sloppily, his hand flopping back and forth for fun. Alfred became petrified for a moment as he registered what he was saying, what he meant. He felt flattered, overjoyed, but quickly dismissed these feelings for the only cause of them was because someone was drunk. When he tunned back into the outside world, he noticed that Arthur was talking, or may have been talking the whole time.

"You even look good in glasses, like amazing!" Alfred felt himself blush. "Everything about your face is perfect. Tanned nicely, perfect complexion, and you got muscles!" Arthur continued on, his hand placed on the tip of his chin as he inspected Alfred. Alfred placed both of his hands into his lap, moving his face away from Arthur as he avoided his admiring glances. His face was becoming a boiled lobster, both the color and the temperature.

"And look at me on the other hand," Arthur began saying, catching Alfred's attention. Arthur was now looking at himself as he kept on talking, his arms raised up to get a clear full view of himself. "I'm just thin, scrawny, and tiny. No one wants that in a man," he said, the last part becoming more of a mumble. "Plus I have these…" Arthur raised his hand up to his face to gently touch his eyebrows, the big big eyebrows.

That's not true! Screamed in Alfred's mind. He wanted to ramble on and on about everything that shinned to Alfred. It wasn't just his looks that made Alfred stop and stare but his personality was something Alfred admired. He opened his mouth, to go against Arthur's harsh words to himself, only for his vocal cords to fail on him. For he didn't want to raise any suspicion.

"But if I was a girl, I'd probably most definitely be head over heels for you!" Alfred's eyes widened in shock as he watched Arthur. We can be, he wanted to say. We can be together!

"Now you're turn," Arthur said, taking in a sip of the drink. There were many things he wanted to ask him, many things he knew Arthur would probably refuse to answer. Even though he was drunk, Alfred knew he wouldn't tell someone a secret that important, especially to someone who he only started talking to a week before.

"Are you feeling better?" Alfred questioned, leaning on one of his hands as he waited for Arthur's reaction. "Better then ever!" He replied back excitedly as he slid the bottle toward Alfred. He took a small sip, smiling as he watched Arthur think up a new question.

"Why is you hair always sticking up?" He asked, a frequently asked question to Alfred. Alfred raised his free hand and touched the top of the cowlick, his fingers gliding across the soft hair. "I'm not so sure but I've always had this. No matter what I do the cowlick always stays up. Unless I get it wet or use enough gel though"

Arthur still looked at Alfred confused, his hands unconsciously making a motion that Alfred guessed meant that the Briton wanted to touch it. Alfred stood up from his chair and walked over to Arthur, kneeling as he said, "go ahead, touch it."

Arthur hesitated at first, his hand shaking for a decision before touching the cowlick. His eyes widened as he felt the hair, sliding his hand back and forth on the strand. Before he knew it he raised his other hand and started to touch Alfred's hair, startling him as he touch, felt, and soothed his golden locks. Arthur continued to stare in awe at his hair.

"Your hair is even perfect too," he whispered, making Alfred's hair into a mess, even though he didn't mind. He then took his hands off of Alfred's head, the hair slowly falling back to place. Arthur lowered his head a bit as he said, "feel mine, it's nothing as amazing as yours."

Alfred was hesitated to touch the other's hair as well, but gently placed a hand down, twisting the blond hair between his fingers. The other hand joined, playing around with his soft, silk like hair that he concluded he really liked.

But before Alfred had the chance to continue admiring and playing with Arthur's hair something fell into his chest, the head of Arthur moving toward him as well. Alfred stiffened once again.

"Your so waaaaarm," Arthur murmured while Alfred began frantically searching through his mind on what to do. Arthur tightened his grip around Alfred, burying himself deeper into his chest. Alfred on the other hand was panicking, his face bursting with even more heat to the point you might as well saw steam coming out of his ears. Alfred started to worry, worry that Arthur would be able to hear the frantic beating of his heart that wouldn't calm down for a second. Thumping noises became audible in Alfred's ears, the blood pumping through his body as he took in quick intakes of air.

The hand that was wrapped around Alfred loosened and came undone, finding a new place on Alfred's body that shocked him out of his mind. He began to laugh uncontrollably as something tickled him, looking down at Arthur who was looking up at him, his cheeks tinted red and a smile on his face from the drink.

"Stop!" Alfred barely managed to say as he continued to laugh, forgetting about his last predicament. He jumped away from Arthur, finally stopping the terrifying nightmare from the tickle monster until Arthur jumped up from his seat and began chasing after Alfred. They chased each other around, dodging around the couch and table, trying with everything he had to get away from Arthur. But in the end his efforts became futile as he was pushed onto the couch from the armrest side, Arthur falling down on top of Alfred on the couch.

Arthur quickly resumed to tickling Alfred whose laugh filled the room. He barely managed to say out the words, "no" and "please stop", only for Arthur to ignore. Alfred was exactly like a child, laughing gleefully as he was bathed by someone's attention. Just like someone Arthur knew, very well.

The tickling stopped, Alfred glad that Arthur was returning back to normal. He breathed, his ribs aching a bit from the pressure created when laughing, before something fisted Alfred's shirt. Surprised and confused, Alfred look down at Arthur who was still on top of him, his shirt slowly getting damp.

"Oh, uh, Ar-" Alfred tried to say as he tried to push himself up, only for it to die out after hearing a couple of sniffles emitting from Arthur, his shirt being pulled on even more.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm so sorry….I'm sorry…"

A sob broke out, a sob that Arthur had been trying to hold in for so long. Alfred hesitated at first but slowly wrapped his arm around the Briton, pulling him closer. He felt like he finally made it, following the dark deep road to Arthur, who was submerged deep into the dark void, slowly chipping himself away. Now the Hero just needed to find a way to get out of there. Arthur broke down his barrier of pride as he cried, and cried, repeating the same words over and over again.

Alfred did everything he could, and held the Briton tight to his chest as he continued to wail, hoping that the pain in his heart would be willing to stop anytime soon.


	2. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The major difference Arthur noticed was that he felt warm, very warm. He tightly closed his already shut eyes, scrunching his eyebrows as he peaked out from one of them before quickly shutting it. Something moved beneath him, silently startling him as he shifted his head over a slight bump. As he settled down, his ear picked up a noise, a distant steady thumping noise. He knew something was greatly off.

He raised his head up, his bangs flying into his vision as he pushed on his hand. A grunt came from somewhere under him, the thing underneath him shifting and something came to wrap around Arthur. The thing hugged him as he stayed petrified, pulling him closer to something soft. He took a deep breath, an indescribable smell of warmth and familiarity filling his nose. He shuffled his head back and forth and slowly raised his head up, the sight soon stunning Arthur.

Alfred was sleeping, his mouth partially open as his glasses lay askew on his face. A light snore escaped his lips before he suddenly closed his mouth, his lips smacking against each other, and incomprehensible noise murmuring out. The arm wrapped around Arthur tightened and pulling him to the side, so they both laid on the couch. Arthur took note on how dangerously close their faces were, heating up from embarrassment as he kept looking at the other. Alfred's mouth slowly opened, surprising Arthur out of his shocked state as he whispered out a name, "Arthur"

Without a second of thinking Arthur pushed Alfred away from himself, causing Alfred grip around him to loosen as Arthur felt himself fall to the ground. He landed with a thump, his hip blossoming in pain as he slowly sat up and groaned. Alfred shot up from the sudden movement, one arm raised up in a defense as the other fixed the glasses on his face. He looked around to see what happened, finding Arthur nursing the pain on his hip as he scowled up to Alfred.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked questioningly. He looked down at the Briton, who was baring his teeth in an annoyed look as his face was bright red, almost scarlet. "Are you okay?"

Arthur wanted to yell at Alfred, asking what he was doing here. But before he could say anything Alfred said, "your face is all red"

Arthur unconsciously raised a hand up to his cheek, feeling a warm sensation even before the hand touched his skin. He furrowed his brows up at Alfred, who looked back at him a bit with wide-eyes. Arthur sensed worry in Alfred's eye and turned his face to the side and because of those actions, Alfred was easily able to conclude that he didn't want to talk about it.

Alfred was the first one to move as he got up and went out of the room. Arthur was left alone as he began thinking, begging his mind to remember about the event that happened last night. His head ached a bit, meaning he did drink enough to get woozy but not enough to black out. He looked over at the table where there was a bottle, the brand name of the alcohol written in a special font.

Arthur jumped a bit, stiffening when he felt something fall onto his shoulders and raised a hand up to touch a fluffy fabric, comprehending that it was his comforter. He craned his head to look up and see Alfred, whose hair was neatly combed, his hands still out from draping the comforter as he smiled back at him. Arthur twisted his neck so he was looking back at the ground. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew he probably did something last night, that probably would shame him. He flipped the comforter over his head as he began to hope that maybe something would come and kill him before he died from shame.

Alfred watched the mound of white shake every now and then right next to the couch. He felt his stomach rumble and looked down at his watch to take note of how long Alfred had survived without eating. Walking over to the fridge he opened it up, noticing that there was nothing in there for him to make, or enough for him to make something. Then an idea came into his head.

"Hey, Arthur!" The mound turned, which Alfred assumed was when Arthur turned his head. "Let's go to the supermarket,"

Arthur could feel the excitement in Alfred's voice, and began to fear for the future a bit. He instantly refused and hoped that he wouldn't pester him anymore as he resumed in trying to remember about the night before. But unfortunately for him, Alfred had a plan B for when Arthur decided to go the hard way.

Arthur felt his body rise up, being thrown over what he swore was Alfred's shoulder. "Hey! Let me down!" he commanded, trying to wriggle free from the comforter that he wrapped around himself, flailing endlessly as he shifted his arms and kicked his feet. A chuckle came from Alfred as he securely held Arthur down with one hand walking over to the door to push his feet in his shoes.

"I demand you to put me down!" The voice in the blanket demanded,

"Nope!" Alfred replied without contemplating. Arthur struggled some more, trying to throw some hits to Alfred as his curses were muffled out from the comforter. Alfred chuckling some more.

At this point, Arthur knew he was going to the supermarket, no matter what he said or did. He sighed with defeat, his limbs falling limp as he said, "At least let me change…"

All of a sudden, Arthur was picked up by Alfred by his ribs, slowly being lowered until the tip of Arthur's toes felt the cool wood floor. Arthur finally released his strained arms and pulled down the comforter enough for it to be on his head like a hood as he pushed Alfred's arm away from his body. His feet landed on the floor a bit harder than he anticipated to.

Alfred watched Arthur's back as he walked to his bedroom, keeping an eye on him so he wouldn't try to escape Alfred's plan, even though he could just hide in his room. If he did end up hiding, Alfred was going to force him out. That boy needed to get out of this house anyway.

Arthur changed quickly, randomly putting on the clothes that were at the top of his drawer. He looked in his small mirror, patting down his hair until he noticed something. His finger gingerly touched the outer rims of his eye, noticing a bit of red and the tiniest swelling. He questioned it for a bit, wondering what would have caused such a small thing, until it dawned on him that he had been cry, and to make it worse, the night before. The memory stabbed his pride like an arrow, straight into the vital middle as he placed his hands over his face, scowling at himself on how he could let that happen, how he could even let himself drink that much, and how he could show such an embarrassing thing again, to Mr. Jones. Now he really payed to God for some sort of death sentence to fall upon him.

Arthur stood still for a while, as Alfred constantly shifted by the doorway. Impatience was getting to Alfred horribly, looking down at his watch for what was the third time. Arthur was taking longer, a lot longer than he had hoped he would take and came down with the conclusion that he was trying to escape his plan.

He walked over to the bedroom door, twisting the handle without even knocking as he bursted open the door. Arthur looked up, his hands still in a cupped position from when holding his face.

"Let's go!" Alfred said energetically, moving toward Arthur who stayed petrified on the spot until Alfred grabbed his arm and began pulling him out the bedroom door. Arthur began stuttering words, his face heating up as tried to plant his feet to the ground to stay put, only for his socks to slide on the wood floor.

"Let's go!" he said again, his free arm raised up to point toward onwards as Arthur continued to struggle. Before Arthur was pulled out of his room he grabbed a hold of one of his jackets and returned to scuffle against Alfred in an unfair fight. They were out the door in less than a minute.

The whole 10 minute walk to the supermarket ended up being a different type of struggle for the two of them. Alfred tried to start up some conversation, only to receive an almost silent agreement or a slight nod. Arthur kept looking at the ground, too ashamed of himself to face Alfred after the night before. He wanted to do anything but be with him right now.

Cold air nipped at the two's skin as they entered through the automatic doors of the supermarket, Alfred grabbing a cart and led the way as Arthur solemnly trailed behind him.

"So, what do you wanna eat for lunch?" Alfred asked, quickly looking back at Arthur. Arthur's brows furrowed a bit after listening to the magnificent creation of a new word, annoyed and confused on why people didn't just say the whole word. He looked down at his feet and shrugged, not really caring whatever they ate. He never was a complainer when it came to food.

Alfred returned to gazing at the shelves, wondering what he should make as his eyes glossed over the prices. It wasn't until they got to the poultry section did Alfred come up with their meal plan.

Without even asking Arthur if he agreed on what they were going to have for lunch, Alfred grabbed several hamburger meats. Hamburgers were sadly something he didn't eat too often, other than the ones from Mcdonald's because of the price range. But today he felt like rewarding himself and treating Arthur to a delicious meal. He hurried ahead to get more topping ingredients for lunch, being stopped by a cart blocking him from getting the cheese. The mother pushing the cart was being pestered by her child, the constant tugging and whining annoying her as she finally gave in to his wants. She picked up the boy and placed him in the cart, the child gleeing in a cheer as he commanded his mother to move onwards. His mother replied with an eye roll and a smile, pushing the cart with speed as the boy giggled.

Arthur ended up being left behind when Alfred ran off to get ingredients. He wandered a bit, staring randomly at products until he came upon a box set of pudding, chocolate to be exact. His shoes squeaked on the floor when he suddenly turned, looking for where in gods name Alfred could have gone to.

When he finally found him, he caught him in a rather strange position. One of Alfred's legs were in the cart as he struggled to get the other one in. Arthur scowled down at him in a bit of a bewildered way, as Alfred stared at him with a surprised look.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Arthur questioned, a brow rising up.

"I'm trying to get in the cart," he replied, fixating his body so he could push up his other foot.

"What are you, a child?" Arthur censured, looking around to see if anyone was watching them. Nobody was around. Alfred's leg kicked up, finally tumbling into the cart lightly as he sat in a comfortable position, making sure that he didn't crush any of the stuff in the cart. He gave Arthur a toothy grin of pride.

"Arthur! Push me!" He then suddenly exclaimed, surprising Arthur. "No" he quickly replied, Alfred looking a bit dejected.

"Please?" He begged, his face becoming a puppy dog face, something Arthur just considered annoying. "No"

Alfred's mouth puffed out a bit, pouting from the lack of attention, just like a child. Arthur walked near the frozen goods in the refrigerated open area looking down at the food to distance and ignore Alfred.

Noticing that pouting was getting him nowhere, Alfred moved the cart forward by pushing on the ledge part of the refrigerated open area. The cart soon collided into Arthur, receiving a slight ow noise and a glare. He continued doing it, to annoy Arthur into agreeing with his demand, and just as he expected Arthur gave in, flailing his arms a bit as he said "Fine! I'll push you"

Alfred whooped a bit with victory as Arthur walked around the cart to the handle, the wheels gliding smoothly on the ground as he pushed the full grown man. Alfred leaned back as he ordered Arthur in the direction to go, pointing his finger, demanding Arthur to go faster. Arthur refused to follow Alfred's wishes at first, only to receive a whiny complaint and plea until he finally agreed. Alfred gleefully cheered as he commanded Arthur to make sudden turns and cuts, and a panicked yell for Arthur to push faster when the store manager came chasing after them.

They quickly turned to an aisle, finally losing the manager in their difficult trail to twists and turns. Arthur pushed the cart away so he can place his hands on his knees, panting from the excessive amount of exercise he just did after years of ignoring physical activities. Alfred turned around in the cart to face Arthur, his smile disappearing as he began to worry about the other. "Are you okay?"

Arthur looked up, a bit of sweat forming on his forehead. "You think I look fine! I haven't done anything physical since grade school and you're not the lightest person."

Alfred pouted from the recent remark, as Arthur finally straightened his back from the panting position. "I'm exhausted," he mumbled.

"Then do you want to ride in the cart?" Alfred asked, startling Arthur who didn't think Alfred heard him say that. Before Arthur could refuse Alfred jumped out of the cart, which rocked back and forth a bit from the sudden movement.

"Oh no, you don't have to, I'm fine just lik-" Arthur stuttered out, his arms shaking back and forth in refusal as Alfred came up to him. He then picked Arthur up and tossed him gently inside the cart. The Briton flailed to get up into a sitting position, finally finding balance as he pushed himself up. Alfred gave him a bright grin as Arthur sneered back at him.

Suddenly, someone yelled at them, Alfred turning around and making a meeping sound before he pushed the cart forward, causing Arthur who was trying to get one foot out of the cart to topple backward. Alfred pushed the cart with speed, turning corner after corner he could turn, trying to lose the manager that was hot on their trail again.

"Please stop this at once!" Arthur yelled as he slowly turned around to face Alfred until they took another turn causing him to crash a bit to the side. Alfred continued to panic as he pushed faster, ignoring Arthur's pleas of mercy.

"Mr. Jones please stop this at once! You are going too bloody fast!" Arthur yelled as he gripped the side of the cart for balance. All of a sudden the cart stopped, Arthur once again tumbling to the other side of the cart. He looked up at the American as he groaned, only to see the man looking straight ahead, a bit stunned.

"What did you just say?" Alfred asked, more in a worried tone than a demand of dominance.

Arthur looked up from his panting position, confused as he said, "I'm going to bloody die if you keep this up?"

Alfred glared a bit at the Briton only to notice that he didn't mean to say it as a joke. He brushed it off as he questioned him again. "No, what did you, what did you call me?"

"Your proper surname, Mr. Jones. Are you deaf or something?" Arthur said to him a bit aggravated. Before anything else could happen the manager reappeared at the end of the aisle, almost catching up to them until Alfred began pushing again. Arthur, learning from the past, gripped onto the side of the cart before he went flying onto the other side, thankfully not giving himself anymore bruises he had received from this experience.

Arthur let out more streams of curses and demands for Alfred who continued to disregard him, pushing the cart even when they had finally lost the manager. Arthur figured that he just didn't notice.

"Mr. Jones! He's gone, you can stop now!" He said, hoping that this ride would end. Alfred just looked down and shook his head. Arthur looked up and furrowed his eyebrows as Alfred said, "not until you drop the Mr and call me Alfred!"

One of Arthur's brows shifted up, glaring at Alfred until they turned a corner, Arthur's grip not being strong enough for he was tossed to the side.

"Fine fine! Alfred you bloody wanker just stop!" The cart stopped, Arthur almost toppling back to the front of the cart. Alfred hummed while he lightly pushed the cart, the other sending him looks that could even cut through diamond. Alfred's trait of not being able to read the atmosphere kicked in, ignoring absolutely everything.

They soon made it to the cash register, Arthur slowly pushing himself out of the cart before Alfred started unloading food. Alfred fortunately placed all the food on top part of the cart, none of the products being damaged when the two of them were horsing around. All of the food was scanned and Alfred paid with his card, none of this escaping Arthur's sight. The two walked out of the supermarket, Arthur carrying a bag as Alfred carried three even when Arthur insisted that he could carry more, to only receive a haughty laugh from Alfred as he pointed at Arthur slightly shaking legs. Arthur growled at him before he turned his head, ignoring Alfred's attempts to start up a conversation.

As their talkless walk continued on, Arthur finally felt himself calm down from the piling up frustration and anger. His mind wandered back to his last predicament, becoming embarrassed once again as he avoided anything with Alfred for the rest the walk. Alfred noticed that the other was ignoring him, and thought that Arthur was upset at him because of the cart ride. He looked down, watching his shoe disappear and reappear as walked forward.

"Hey, I didn't mean to be so harsh back there. I'm sorry and I won't do it again okay?" Alfred said as kept looking down. Arthur's head jolted up, looking at the American confused as he continued talking, barely mumbling out the audible words of, "Just, don't stay mad at me…"

Arthur kept looking at Alfred, wondering why he would feel so insecure and worried right now. In his mind he was screaming how he bloody cried in front of him, and that a wanker pushing him in a cart was nowhere near the reason to why he was avoiding him. Arthur felt bad, the fact that Alfred was taking the blame for something that was his own fault, something that he should have controlled.

"Uh, no, that's okay," Arthur said as he looked back down. "I wasn't mad at you in the first place anyway."

Alfred's head moved up, looking at Arthur with wide eyes in surprise before he turned back to face forward. Arthur returned to looking back at the ground remembering about his main problem, his free hand lightly slapping onto his face.

They made it back to Arthur's apartment not too long after, Alfred yelling at Arthur to hurry up as he skipped through the stairs with ease. He then anxiously waited by the door as Arthur slowly walked over, fishing out for his keys before unlocking his house. Once Arthur pushed the door open Alfred walked right in, kicking his shoes off at the corner before trotting down to turn into the kitchen. Arthur trailed behind him.

Alfred was already pulling out the ingredients, unwrapping products as he pulled out utensils. Arthur pulled off his coat, draping it on his arm as he sheepishly walked back to his room to put it away. But before he vanished from the American's sight, Alfred craned his neck and said, "Wanna come help me?" his finger's already mixing in the meat as he smiled his brightest smile.

Arthur unconsciously blushed a bit before he vigorously shook his head and stomped away. He threw his coat onto the floor next to his closet before plopping down onto the seat and resting his head on his desk. Stop remember! He said to himself. He rolled his head around, the areas that were being constantly rolled on starting to sting with pain as he kept yelling at himself. Stop remembering stop remembering stop remembering! And with that his head stopped rolling, Arthur's arms falling limp by his side as his cheek was squished up in his face.

His mind flashed the past, of Alfred nonchalantly doing everyday stuff. Why is he so calm about it? He asked. Somewhere deep in his mind replied with an I don't know. Everything was dark, the voice coming from every direction as Arthur kept thinking. Why does he act like none of that ever happened? It replied back with another I don't know. Why is he even cooking for me? I don't know. Why does he even stay? I don't know. What did I ever do to him? I don't know. Why does he come everyday to make me food. Nothing replied. Why does he keep making sure I eat and sleep and drink and get well. The mind continued to stay dark. Why-. He stuttered out. "Why does he even care about me?" No one replied, the room staying dim as he shut his eyes to welcome the darkness from within.

Why haven't you kicked him out yet? The voice questioned in his mind. Arthur's eyes shot open. Why do you let him stay here, why do you let him, why do you let him see you this weak. Arthur's rose up, his back hitting the backrest of the chair. Why bother, why ever bother, when everything good leads to the worst. The voice sneered. Arthur's neck snapped down to look at his lap. No. Why should you ever care? No. Why should you even try? No. Why don't you just give up. No. And walk away from this mess. No. For everything is. No. After all. No. All, your, fault. No! His arms clamped down onto his ears, believing that the voice was coming from somewhere in the room. The voice snickered before replying in a taunting sadistic tone.

Arthur… Because of that, your punishment is to lose, eve-ry-thing.

His arms went limp again. He stared at his lap, with maybe disbelief, or hopelessness. He felt the silence of the room, suffocating him bit by bit as he tried to breath. The room stayed as dark as his mind. He released a clammy breath, feeling a knot form in his throat.

All of a sudden the door to his room opened, the natural light from outside shining into the dark, the two opposites mixing together like oil and water. Arthur spun his head, some light shining his face as he was greeted by a man, whose face was covered by the shadows, the light outlining his body. To Arthur, it almost looked godly.

"Arthur I cut my finger!" Alfred exclaimed as he rushed over toward Arthur who stared up at him in disbelief. He clutched his right hand over his left, the red of the blood seeping slowly between his fingers. The grip was released a bit for Alfred to look at it before quickly turning his head away from the bad cut. Arthur stood stunned for a moment before he jumped up, registering the sight.

"You daft fool what the hell were you doing!" Arthur scowled as he pried the American's hands off of the cut. Blood trailed down from Alfred's hand to Arthur, pooling in some areas. The cut wasn't horribly deep, but it was cut vertically down his index finger, some skin having been sliced off. Arthur pulled Alfred's hand as Alfred continued to refuse to look at it, his eyes shut tight as the other lead him into the kitchen and lowered him to the ground to sit. Quickly opening up a cabinet, Arthur was able to find the band-aids after his share of horrible incidents in the kitchen. His efforts seemed flawless as he dripped the disinfectant on the cotton pad and wiped the blood that was coming out of the cut. Alfred flinched from the sudden touch of pain, holding back a whimper as he kept his eyes shut tightly. He never liked the sight of blood and he probably was never going to be able to get over it.

"Bloody idiot," Arthur murmured as he continued to work on the cut. Along with that Alfred heard multiple other mumbled insults under the Briton's breath about how much of an idiot he was and what could he have been doing to receive such a long cut.

When he finally did cracked open one of his eyes, he saw Arthur putting pads on his finger to soak up the blood as he tightly wrapped a gauze around it. His hair covered his eyes as he diligently worked the gauze around the finger, tying the extra end into a knot once he was finished. Arthur looked down at his hands, smeared with blood as he picked up another cotton pad with disinfectant and whipped it off. He handed one to Alfred for his right hand.

Alfred pulled his hand back, inspecting his index finger with amazement as he continued to wipe the blood off. It was done perfectly after years failure and practices.

"Thank you Arthur!" Alfred said as he looked up at him cheerfully. Arthur looked up from his fingers, noticing Alfred's smile disappearing a bit. Alfred slowly raised his cleaned hand up to Arthur's cheek, Arthur flinching back a bit, surprised by the rather unexpected movement as he turned his gaze to the side. His thumb made small circular movements on Arthur's cheek as he looked into his emerald hued eyes, quivering with what Alfred could not pinpoint.

"Arthur," he said, almost a whisper. Arthur looked up at him, regretting it the moment his gaze made contact with the sky blue, cerulean eyes that seemed to force his gaze to stay put. He couldn't make himself turn away from the beautiful color.

"Wer-were you crying?" Alfred stuttered out. Arthur's eyes widened up as he stared up at Alfred with disbelief. Was he crying? When? He asked. He raised a hand to touch the unoccupied cheek to feel the slight dampness. He was a bit surprised at first but his eyes did feel a bit swollen and wet. The more he began thinking about it the more it seemed possible. Everything, repeated through his mind. Everything everything everything! His head snapped back down to look at the ground.

Alfred lowered his hand as he watched the other. Arthur's eyes misted up with confusion and even more denial. He looked lost once again.

It was almost a chant now, slowly creating a beat as they continued in his mind. Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everythin-

"Arthur."

Arthur snapped out of his trance a bit too late as Alfred pulled his arm and fell into the American's chest. It was just like he remembered that morning, a warm feeling shifting through his spine causing him to shiver. Alfred's arms we wrapped around Arthur, pulling him into a hug as Arthur's stayed limp, startled. But what surprised Arthur more was how comfortable this felt, and how he asked himself why hadn't I done this earlier. He didn't want to leave.

Alfred wanted to say something, but not being able to think anything up he pulled his arms around Arthur even tighter. Arthur's eyes peaked out from Alfred's shoulder, looking at the white walls of the kitchen. He felt himself being pulling into Alfred's chest more and more, feeling a slight thumping accelerate along with his own racing heart. He was steadily getting warmer, maybe from the fact that Alfred was emitting a fair amount of heat. But for some reason his face felt the hottest.

"You're not alone Arthur," Alfred whispered. "Just know you're not going to go through this alone," Arthur shivered when he felt the other's warm breath on his ear as he buried his face in Alfred's shoulder a bit more, feeling the soft cotton of the white shirt. He wasn't sure why, but those words felt soothing to him. The idea that he wasn't going to suffer locked up in his room, alone, cold, and sick. The idea that someone was there to pull him out of it, help his back into the light he once stood in before he losted it. That he was not going to be alone again, in the dark.

He didn't want to be alone.

He was scared to be alone.

He hated being alone.

Alfred didn't know what to do anymore. He had done something instinctively, and now he had to face the consequences. But he couldn't stop thinking, thinking about how he was holding Arthur. The Briton fit into his arms rather comfortably he concluded. It was almost like a perfect… match. A deep blush rippled right across Alfred's face.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity for the two, both of their faces as scarlet as one could become. Arthur was the first one to move, startling Alfred as he whipped the other's arm off of him and made a snarky remark on how there was no way he could be crying, because he was a man after all. Alfred just smiled at him as Arthur pushed himself up while rubbing his eyes a bit, that still glistened with tears. Arthur felt a bit taller, maybe a bit stronger as he pulled himself away from Alfred, happy that he was able to push himself up this time with different reasons since their first meeting. He then began to walk back to his room away from Alfred, until Alfred grabbed onto Arthur's arm. Arthur turned around to look at Alfred, before the American looked away nervously to the side.

"Um, do you think you can help me, you know, cook? It's just that now I can't really do as much with an unbendable finger," he said as he looked down at his bandaged finger and back up at Arthur.

"I mean you don't have to!" he stuttered, feeling bad that he had to ask Arthur who already refused him earlier that day. Arthur looked down at Alfred's hand before he decided on his reply.

"Yeah, sure…" Alfred looked at Arthur a bit surprised as the other pushed Alfred's hand off of him. He then went over to the kitchen and washed both the cutting board and the knife as Alfred also quickly got up and continued to prepare for their meal.

Things ended up going pretty smoothly for the rest of the preparations. Arthur was rather on and off the whole time, not noticing if he was cutting too small our adding too much stuff for ingredients. At one point Alfred had to stop Arthur when he almost poured sugar in the meat instead of salt. He also almost cut himself and was finally assigned to warm up the pan to fry the burgers. Everything was fine until the first hamburger was put on the sizzling hot pan, burning more quickly than the two had anticipated. For some reason it bursted into flames, causing Arthur to yelped and Alfred to panic as he quickly placed the hamburger on a plate and blew the flames away. It was charcoal black. Arthur was sent to wait at the table as Alfred finished cooking the rest of the burgers, the Briton claiming that this wasn't his true cooking skills.

In the end they were both sitting at the table, across from each other. Arthur looked down at his specifically customized burger, which the meat was burned perfectly. He then looked over at Alfred's, one of the three hamburgers burnt to the crisp. He had insisted he eat the burger for it was his fault that it was ruined, to which Alfred replied with a refusal. Arthur couldn't understand why he would even want to eat it anyway. The two began eating, one slowly as the others gobbled. By the time Arthur was halfway done, Alfred was already done with his first, moving quickly through his second. Arthur kept stealing glances at the other as his mind wandered.

"When do you think you'll be returning back to class?" Alfred asked before he opened his mouth for another bite, Arthur stopping in mid-chew. Truthfully, he hadn't really thought much about school during his absence. He didn't have a form excusing him from going to his classes by a doctor so he probably had very low grades at the moment. But he didn't really want to go anymore, he didn't really care. "Don't know," Arthur said while shrugging his shoulders and swallowing the chewed up hamburger in his mouth. He took a drink from his cup as Alfred stared at him curiously.

"You should come back," Alfred mumbled as he shoved more burger into his mouth. Arthur looked up, curious. "Why?" he asked, Alfred jolting up a bit from his seat.

"Well, you know, that, um, yes! You want to graduate right? So if you want to then you're going to have to continue going!" Alfred stuttered out, laughing a bit nervously as his hand urged to rub his neck, a habit that he had ever since he was a kid. It was a habit that he did when he got either embarrassed or was lying. Arthur narrowed his eyes the slightest bit, puzzled before he continued to eat. In the other's mind Alfred gave a sigh of relief, praising himself for being able to hide the fact that the only reason he wanted Arthur to return to school was so he could see him more often.

But what Alfred didn't know was that Arthur decided to ask the million dollar question that seemed to always come up in his mind whenever he was around Alfred.

"Mr. Jones-" he said before he was interrupted with an "Alfred."

Arthur gave him a look before he took in another bite and swallowed it. Alfred looked up at him, interested.

"Alfred," Arthur finally said as Alfred nodded his head, telling Arthur that he may continue. "Why do you keep coming here?"

Alfred's chewing stopped for a moment before he swallowed, taking note on how loud of a noise he created when gulping. He felt his hands get a bit damp, his heart thumping with, unlike the last time, with anxiety. He came up with a smart answer by recycling his last answer from the week before when he was asked the same question. "I want to help others! Cause I'm the-"

"Hero, yes, I already know that," Arthur interrupted, taking in another bite. Alfred felt his body freeze. "But that still does not explain why you keep on coming back, and not to mention everyday. I do know that I am not sick anymore and I know that you know I'm not sick. Yet you keep returning. And I would like to question, why is that?"

Alfred didn't know what to do. He was worried, wondering if his guise was blown. Was it that obvious? He questioned himself. Maybe I should have came every other day, so I wouldn't arouse any suspicion. But he knew the other didn't eat unless forced upon… unless forced upon! He felt his brain celebrate with joy as he worded his new response, looking up at Arthur who was leaning back in his chair, his legs crossed with a rather superior look on his face. Alfred smiled a bit before he replied.

"Because you won't eat unless I make you. Plus, you could use a bit more pounds on that skin and bone body of yours," he stated taking another bite of the hamburger, this time from the burnt one. Yes, it tasted nothing like what a hamburger should taste like and yes it was pretty much burned inside out yet, he liked how it tasted. It almost felt like his mind was a bit disappointed knowing that he missed this all his life.

"I will have you know Mr. Jones-" "Alfred." "Alfred that I can feed myself properly without anyone chaperoning after me. I can cook just about anything perfectly fine. As you can see I am perfectly fine and capable of taking care of myself."

Both of them knew that the last statement was a lie. Arthur knew cause he was talking about himself and Alfred knew because of the way Arthur would escape, run away, and break down till there was nothing left. He remembered him talking about himself, as if he was a good for nothing child that deserved a punishment. He kept shutting himself away, cowering in the darkness of the comforter, constantly apologizing for what Alfred was yet to find out about. Alfred knew that Arthur needed someone by his side, whether he admitted it or not.

And Alfred knew that he loved him and was going to help him until the end, even if he ended up having to hide away his feelings, even forever. He would have walked to hell and back just for this one man.

"What do you mean you can cook anything? You burned a burger earlier today and they are some of the simplest things to make! You sure you can cook everything perfectly fine?" Arthur jolted up a bit, Alfred taking note that his cooking skill was a soft spot. As Arthur stuttered for a response Alfred looked down at his watch, noticing that if he wanted to make it to his shift on time he was going to have to start walking to work. He pushed out of the chair, catching Arthur's attention as he stuffed the remains of the black burger.

"Well, if my cooking is so vulgar to you then why did you eat all of the burger!" Arthur finally said, feeling a bit proud at himself for being able to come up with a reply. Alfred chuckled a bit, surprising Arthur out of his proud stance as the other began walking over to the kitchen door. "Because I hate to waste. I don't want good ingredients I spent money on to just go into the trash. And trust me that burger was horrid, as you Briton's would say."

"What! My cooking is absolutely not horrid! It is a one of a kind that not enough people appreciate. If only there were less idiots like you breathing in this world maybe we wouldn't have so many problems in our society today!" Arthur yelled frustratingly at the American who just laughed, amused on how easily he popped and exploded. Arthur soon caught on that Alfred was getting a kick out of this and tried to calm himself down, unfortunately failing miserably. The Briton yelled at the other some more, Alfred laughing the whole time, even when Arthur sweared to never let the him back inside his house, ever again. Alfred placed a hand on the door frame, looking back and Arthur with a small smile, happy that he was being loud, obnoxious, prideful, and lively. It was nice to see the green in Arthur's eyes shine so strongly, after the week of nothing.

Arthur continued to huff on about his cooking, on some of the stuff that he had made which he remembered being quite tasteful until he heard a, "But I save the best for last." He stopped gabbering and watched Alfred walk out of the kitchen to get his shoes to leave. Arthur was bemused, the information not processing through his mind as he heard the door open, someone yelling "bye!" and the door closing. He flopped back down into his chair, scanning through him mind of all of the possibilities on what he may have been talking about, until he came across an idea that reddened his cheeks a bit. He stood back up and pushed the chair in, mumbling as he walked back into his room about how there was no way, no way that that was what Alfred was talking about.

When he made it back into his room, he noticed the stack of paper on his desk of all of the work that had piled up during his absence. He remembered what he said earlier during the meal. Arthur wondered if he really was going to continue going to college. He felt annoyed, tired about college, but now that he had a new problem he began wondering if he should continue. His mind wandered through choices, until he came with a decision that had something to do with sitting down and starting the work. The present self may not have noticed this, but his future self would have been surprised that instead of plummeting back to the darkness, he went toward a light that one close to him may have unconsciously led him to.

Or maybe that someone was the light, pulling him out of the shadowy maze that was previously slowly chipping him away.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The next day Alfred was welcomed by the sight of Arthur's apartment door kept wide open, some clattering noises echoing through the hallways to Alfred as he looked around, confused. He leaped inside, throwing off his shoes and bag before he trotted over to the kitchen where all the noise was. Alfred felt his lungs congest as he breathed in, his eyes watering a bit as he watched Arthur in the opposite side of the room.

Arthur was frantically running around, to the sink back to the oven as he panicked and pulled out a tray, revealing round charcoal. Smoke emitted from the oven with immense speed, some red and orange sparking at the very end of the oven. Both of their views became foggy as Alfred finally registered what was going on.

"Holy shit Arthur!" Arthur jumped a bit as he quickly turned around to look at Alfred, his face half coated with charcoal that resembled a hand print. His eyes were also watering, the green in his eyes glimmering a bit. But Alfred didn't really notice that. He was too panicked to notice the beauty of Arthur's eyes.

"What the hell were you doing?" Alfred questioned as he rushed over and opened all of the windows, taking in a deep breath of fresh air while he was at it. "I was making scones!" Arthur yelled as he threw the tray on the stove, creating a loud rattling noise.

"How does this happen when making scones!" Alfred yelled, rushing over the the side of the room where he ripped the fire extinguisher off the wall. "I don't know! I just stuck it in then boom! It's on bloody fire!"

Alfred followed the instructions and pushed down on the lever, the white foam spraying all over the oven and a bit of Arthur. When Alfred finally saw the flame diminish he stopped, the extinguisher fell to the floor with a clunk as he finally gave himself a steady breath. Arthur was also taking in calming breaths as he watched the oven coated in white.

He couldn't hold it in anymore. He just had to let it out. And with that Alfred laughed hard as he fell down to his knees, his hand covering his stomach to somehow ease the pain. Arthur looked over at Alfred with surprise and scowled down at him, his fist clenching tightly to the side.

"Stop laughing!" Arthur yelled with frustration. Alfred was now on the floor, water leaking from his eyes as he rolled around a bit, his knees raised up to his chest. "Stop it!" Arthur yelled once again, in vain.

As Arthur waited Alfred to calm down he wiped his cheek, the charcoal smudging even more. Alfred finally stopped laughing, only a few chuckles escaping his mouth as he pushed himself up.

"I knew you were a bad cook but I didn't think you were this bad," Alfred said while brushing imaginary dust off of his pants. Arthur frowned as he looked at him before yelling in his defense. "I'm not bad! It's just that my oven is broken."

Alfred looked over at the oven, the inside mostly white, tinted a bit black from the dirty inside. "And what were you making?" Alfred questioned again.

"Scones," Arthur said. "scones…" Alfred went over to the oven, maneuvering around the white foam to admire the darkened teatime snack. If he wasn't told what it was he would have thought it was just charcoal, nothing more, nothing less. But now that he knew that it was scones, he could see the small resemblance.

"Why were you even cooking?" Arthur looked up from the ground he was looking at, startled as he watched Alfred stare down at his disaster. "To prove to you that I can cook quite well." Alfred looked up from the scones to Arthur, who was pouting once again. He laughed. "Well it seems like this proves to the two of us that you cannot cook."

Arthur's head jolted up with his big brows furrowed together almost creating a unibrow. Alfred liked those little things. They was adorable to him. He was positive if he told anyone else he would be called insane and strange but he really liked them. He just couldn't imagine an Arthur without those things.

"No! I told you the ovens broken!" Arthur exclaimed, not wanting to admit in this failures. Sure, he knew that he sucked at cooking and yes, everyone he has ever met always told him that. But that didn't mean he didn't like to cook and that didn't mean that he didn't tend to show his appreciation to others by doing what he likes to do. It was just tragic, Arthur thought. That no one would ever come to appreciate his cooking, for the better or the worst.

Arthur continued to fidget, not feeling any calmer as he knew that Alfred didn't believe the idea that the only reason his cooking came out as a failure was because of the malfunction of a machine. As he kept contemplating he took notice in a movement, glancing up as he saw Alfred reach out and yank one of the scones from the tray, a round silver circle for where the scone once stood. The scone was thrown into the American's mouth, being chewed and quickly swallowed after Alfred had a glimpse of the bitter burnt flavor. Alfred noticed Arthur watching, hope in his eyes as he stared at him for his reaction.

"Bleugh!" Alfred said as he stuck his tongue out to emphasize on how disgusting the flavor was. Arthur face quickly reddened and frowned at him.

"Fine. Then don't eat it!" Arthur yelled as he stomped out of the kitchen, leaving a rather stunned Alfred behind. He heard a door being closed loudly, Arthur trying to stress how upset he was as he flopped down onto his bed. He tried doing something nice after a week of being taken care of and he was rejected.

In the kitchen, there were now three silver circles on the tray. All Alfred could think was how disgusting it was, how burnt they were, how badly cooked they are, and how nasty they were as he threw in another scone in his mouth. He felt himself choke a bit. Horrible. He thought. Horrible horrible horrible.

Yet, he yearned for more.

Not to long after finishing at least half of the so called scones, he heard some water running in what Alfred concluded was the shower. He finished eating all of the scones before the shower was turned off.

When Arthur came back to the kitchen Alfred was sitting at the table, doing some work. Alfred looked up slightly only to glance back down at his work he was doing, not because there was nothing to look at but because Alfred was too embarrassed. He couldn't even believe that he ate all of the monstrosities.

Arthur quietly walked over to the sink, rubbing the towel wrapped around his neck on his hair, droplets falling to the ground. When he lowered his hand his hair stuck everywhere, more messier than his usual look.

"What happened to all of the-..." He began saying until his voice trailed off. Alfred looked up to see a confused Arthur looking down at the tray covered in black with silver circles. He leaned back in his chair. stretching his arms out as he watched the other.

"Threw it out," he replied without thinking, cursing at himself for saying such a cruel thing. But he couldn't just admit to him that he ate it all, that he actually ate all of it. He just, couldn't. That's was just too obvious.

Arthur looked over at Alfred with a glare full of hatred, Alfred turning his gaze to the side to avoid such an intense look as he raised an arm to itch his neck. There was no way that Alfred would have been able to ignore that. Arthur threw in the tray, it making numerous noises as it hit the side of the sink. He turned the water on, it dripping down and taking some of the charcoal before falling into the hole. The sponge that was in his hand was sprayed with soap, Arthur squeezing it to get the bubbles to form.

I don't need to show him my appreciation! He doesn't need to like it. It's not like I forced him to do any of the stuff he did for me. He did it all on his own. If we were to blame someone it would be Mr. Jones fault. Alfred, his mind mentally corrected him, not Mr. Jones. He agreed to it at first until he got angry, wondering when he began to let the two of them become so informal to each other. Yes he did cry in front of him, not to mention kinda twice and yes they did sleep together for one night but that didn't mean Arthur couldn't keep his dignity! All of those were accidents, not meant to have happened. He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Arthur's hand began to tire out but he continued to scrub the black tray vigorously as he mind was clouded with confused thoughts of anger. Alfred felt his hands sweat, feeling a bit uneasy with being so close to such an angry Arthur who was taking out his anger with cleaning. He felt bad that he had to say such a cruel remark when it was false, but he found no courage inside of him to say that it was a lie or even tell him the real truth to begin with. He felt like a failure.

Alfred crumpled up a piece of paper after messing up a long and confusing math problem, a bit frustrated that his mind wouldn't stay focused on a task that would usually take no time to finish. He looked up from his working position, searching the room as he look for a bucket.

"Hey Arthur. Where's your trash?" He questioned. Arthur ignored him for a bit until the words rang through his ears once again, stopping all of his movement as he stared out in front of him. Alfred on the other hand took a while to notice his fault, which he reacted by quickly freaking out. Arthur turned around to look at Alfred whose face was slowly turning red. "The trash…" Arthur mumbled.

Alfred began stuttering. He had done it now he thought. He dug his own grave and buried himself so far that no one would have been able to find him. And now Arthur knew.

"Um-I, its-but not like, there is-no…" He continued to stutter, failing miserably. Before Arthur could open his mouth Alfred jumped out of the seat, barely catching the chair that almost fell after pushing it out so suddenly and yelled too loudly, "I-I need to go to the bathroom!"

And with that he was gone.

Arthur was completely petrified in the spot, the water still running over the tray as he heard the bathroom door close. He spun the knob of the sink, shaking his hands back and forth to dry as he reached down to open the cabinet underneath him, where his trash was. He pulled it out, looking inside to see that there were no burnt scones. The trash was suddenly thrown back into the cabinet as Arthur stayed crouching, slowly closing the cabinet door as he stared out. His hand then was suddenly raised up to his face, covering his mouth as a bright red blush flooded through his face.

Alfred was in the exact same predicament. Instead of sitting in the bathroom doing his duty he was leaning against the door, his face half covered with his hand just like Arthur. He, also, had a scarlet blush all over his face, his face heating up very quickly as he buried his face between his knees. Alfred sat there for a while, trying to recollect himself. He thought about leaving but he couldn't do that because all of his stuff was left out in the kitchen, the kitchen where Arthur is in right now. It took a while for him to finally get up, scolding at himself how he was acting like a nervous teenager with the biggest crush on someone. Though, he wasn't really far from it. He decided to act it out cool.

After flushing the toilet to make it seem like he actually was in the bathroom, Alfred slowly crept toward the kitchen. He peaked his head out, only to see Arthur casually cleaning up the last bits of the tray, looking very calm and nonchalant. Questions raced through Alfred mind until he tossed them all aside and concluded that maybe Arthur didn't know, or that he just didn't care. Either option saved the embarrassment to Alfred.

He walked quietly into the kitchen, dragging his papers together in a pile. When he reached down to pick up his pencil it made a slight clattering noise, Alfred stiffening up as he watched Arthur's back. He continued to clean the tray. A sigh left his mouth as he swiftly gathered the paper in a slightly messy pile and shoved it all into his bag. He knew he wasn't going to get anything done anymore for the day. He was too pooped out after having his emotions running wild. He sadly both liked and disliked it.

"Your shift is going to start soon isn't it?" Arthur questioned without turning around. Alfred looked up, then down at his watch to notice that Arthur was actually correct. He still had sometime to spare before he needed to make his way to his job but he wasn't sure if staying here was a good idea anymore. After all he completely failed to cover a simple lie that shouldn't have happened in the beginning.

"Yea…" Alfred quickly mumbled, throwing the bag over his shoulder as he walked over to the hallway. His mind wandered, wondering if he actually wanted to leave or not. He wanted to stay longer with Arthur but he didn't want to have to deal with the slight guilt as well as the embarrassing shame. But before he left Arthur turned around and yelled out his name.

Alfred stiffened as he slowly turned around to look through the dark hallway, his teeth lightly pressed together as he nervously awaited for his fate. Arthur was still in the kitchen, leaning against the wall near the door frame, away from Alfred's questioning glances.

"Thank you."

Alfred's face heated up for what felt like the umph millionth time before he threw himself outside and forcefully closed the door and leaned against it.

Arthur wasn't really expecting the American's sudden reaction. He moved from the wall and walked to the fridge as he pulled out some food Alfred had left for him, unwrapping it as he threw it into the microwave. His muscles tugged the side of this lips before he gave in and smiled, not admitting in his mind that he was happy for having all of his food eaten. It had been a while since someone was willing to do that. But instead of falling into his deep pit of past memories he liked to ignore, he looked up, happy that he was able to live through that experience.

Alfred frowned as Arthur smiled, both of their faces unknowingly or avoiding to agree the fact that it was red.


	3. When the Time Comes

Alfred continued to come everyday once again. Arthur began to attempt to make more food this time, and like always, ending with the absolute failure of black goodness. So one day Alfred convinced Arthur to stop so they wouldn't continue wasting food. Arthur wasn't to ecstatic when he was told this and was upset for the time being, until Alfred came the next day with the ingredients to apple pie, asking if he wanted to make a successfully delicious dessert together. Arthur put up a tough mask, claiming that he might as well help for he didn't want Alfred to mess up and waste the supplies, but Alfred knew the truth.

Alfred was finally able to get past the embarrassing experience from before, Arthur making sure not to bring it up. He did spill it once when he finally became comfortable enough to tease Alfred, ending with Alfred giving Arthur a silent pout while the other laughed at him.

But Alfred was happy. He was really happy.

Arthur finally came back and attended college. He was able to turn in everything he missed as well as catch up with all of the notes and lessons. Alfred was impressed, but he was nervous. He wasn't sure if Arthur expected him to stop coming to his house, or wanted him to stop. He debated about asking him face to face only for his cowardly side to kick in, anxious about the idea of rejection. It was cleared when the last class ended, Arthur walking up to him, telling Alfred to hurry up and finish packing or he was going to leave him behind. Alfred trailed after him like a puppy chasing after their owner.

Classes became tougher as test came around the corner, Arthur studying hard in hopes of being able to boost up his low grade after the weeks of being stuck inside of his house. Studying for most of his classes went smoothly, Arthur being able to soak up information after information without a sweat. But when it came to math he was miserable, constantly taking breaks as well as putting off studying as Alfred watched, soon forcing Arthur out of his room from his moping phase to the kitchen table, where Alfred gave him numerous lesson and tips on solving the problems quicker. He was repaid with a bright smile from Arthur, who excitedly continued to finish the rest of the problems as Alfred stared at him with wide eyes. He placed his hand on his heart, surprised from how fast his heart was thumping, over-beating all of the other times he became excited near Arthur, adrenaline rushing through him as he also smiled. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling, coming from deep within him, something he didn't mind in the slightest.

It was the small things really. The slightest touch, the slightest smile, the slightest conversation, and the slightest amount time he was able to spend with Arthur brightened his day. He soon became used to the thumping that came from within him, not surprised when he felt sweaty all of a sudden or when he felt lighter and happier the more he stayed with Arthur. Everything the Briton did was amazing to Alfred, him walking, talking, writing, fail at cooking - hell, Arthur just being Arthur blinded Alfred's vision, the brightness of the other glaring in his eyes. His thoughts were clouded, Arthur being the first thing he thought in the morning and the last thing he thought before he fell asleep, and everything he thought in between was Arthur this and Arthur that. The more time passed, the more Alfred became positive that the feeling one would classify as a school-girl crush was now becoming much much more than that.

And Alfred began to worry if he was going to be able to keep this unstoppable feelings from bursting within him. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to last until he popped.

A few more days passed, Alfred getting back late after his long shift he was called into at the last minute ,walking wearily back to the he walked into the kitchen, Arthur was sitting at the table, munching down some chinese food that he had ordered.

Arthur looked up, eating in a un-gentleman like manner with his cheeks stuffed with food. He quickly chewed and swallowed it, taking a gulp of water when he was done. Alfred was already chuckling by the time Arthur was able to talk again.

They ate, differently compared to the first few times. Their dinner consisted with many conversations, mostly stuff that was not too deep. They were shallow conversations about class or Alfred complaining about work with Arthur telling him to talk with his mouth closed. Dinner was done, Alfred beginning to wash the dishes as Arthur brought them over, putting them into the sink. Dishes were finished quickly with the help of two, Arthur drying the rest of the remaining dishes with a rag as Alfred scuttled over to his bag he left on the side of his chair. After shuffling through all of the content that was thrown inside he pulled something out.

"A horror movie?" Arthur questioned, a brow raised up as he continued to dry the last plate. Alfred nodded slightly.

"What's it about?" Alfred heard Arthur ask as he rushed over to the TV in front of the couch, turning the DVD player on along with the TV.

"I'm not really sure," Alfred said as he stuffed in the disk, carefully yet in a rushed manner. The plate that Arthur was drying was placed in its correct spot, clanking a bit with the other plates. "All I know is that its pretty good, well, to my brother anyway." Arthur walked over to the couch and reached out for the plastic case, reading the summary before giving off a look of disgust. Don't get him wrong, Arthur enjoyed movies and horror was a genre that was entertaining, but an American horror films all ended with cheesy plot twists and the most predictable scenes. He just didn't want to waste time on a film that wasn't entertaining. But, he thought as he looked over at Alfred, waiting excitingly as he waited for the menu screen to pop up. If he wants to, then I think I can suck it up for an hour and a half.

And thus the movie began, with Arthur sitting on the couch while Alfred pulled out something else from his bag, and after hearing the popping noise it made when stuck in the microwave, Arthur was able to conclude was the popcorn. The movie was just as expected. Truth be told, Arthur really expected everything that happened in the movie. The gore was a bit too much, making it seem more and more unrealistic. He was bored, disgusted, and disappointed at the same time until a jump scare came on, causing something to cling onto him.

He quickly spun his head to see a trembling American, who kept peaking at the bloody scene before burying his face deeper into Arthur's stomach. Arthur began to lean on the side from the sudden impact and weight, at one point being completely horizontal on the couch as Alfred grip stayed strong. There were random times he felt Alfred's arms tightened when the bloody scenes came as well as the small yelp that was barely audible, Alfred trying with all of his might to keep it in. He didn't want to appear this whimpy to Arthur, this cowardly, but after getting a slight tease from his brother that he wouldn't be able to watch the film it fired him up, determination pumping inside of him. He was now regretting it greatly.

Arthur didn't know what to do. All of a sudden he began to wonder how many times Alfred had actually hugged him, remembering about the time he left him outside soaking because of his stubbornness, the night that he got drunk, and the day after that when he helped Alfred with his cut finger after he cried. And now this. To Arthur, that was four to many.

"Alfred," Arthur said, not noticing that he was whispering. Alfred slowly looked up, cautiously looking back and forth between Arthur and the TV until another jump scare appeared on the screen, Alfred burying his face back into Arthur. Arthur gave up, getting comfortable in the spot he was laying down in as he listened to the frequent yelps along with the fake screaming coming from the TV.

Soon the end of the movie came, Alfred stretching out his arms as he sat up, twisting his body as he cracked his back from holding onto Arthur.

"That wasn't so bad right Arthur!" He said as he looked over to Arthur, his voice quieting down as he noticed the other. Arthur was asleep, his face pushed against the cushion on the couch as he snored softly, some drool escaping his lips. Alfred couldn't help but smile.

He went over to Arthur's side and picked him up, carrying him with one arm tucked under the knee and the other arm on his back as he walked out to the hallway and into Arthur's room, where Arthur was carefully laid. The covers were lightly thrown on top of Arthur as he shuffled to the side, mumbling incoherent words, curling slightly up into a ball as his fists clenched the tiniest amount. But Alfred noticed it all. It seemed obvious to Alfred that he would do that, that he wouldn't do anything but that. Because it was Arthur Kirkland, the man who he ended up falling in love at first sight. Nobody was able to make Alfred's world crash and burn as much as this man was able to. And he wouldn't want it any other way.

He quickly walked over to the door, grabbing onto the handle and pulled it. But before the door was shut, Alfred peaked from the slightest crack ato see Arthur, smiling before he said, "good night". The door closed with the a fairly silent click, the sound echoing a bit in the hallway as Alfred walked over to the couch for him to fall asleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

It was near 3 o'clock the next day when Alfred pushed himself up from the table, grabbing his backpack and coat. Arthur noticed the sudden increase in movement, curiously looking up from the Sherlock Holmes book he was reading.

"What are you doing?" He questioned as he watched Alfred.

"I'm going to go meet up with my brother," Alfred said as he held up the horror movie they watched the night before. "This is his movie so I have to return it to him before he goes back up to Canada."

"Where you meeting him?" Alfred looked up at Arthur, who continued to give him a curious look.

"At the cafe that's in the town center. I forget what the name is but its near the bookstore." Arthur looked at Alfred for a while before he too got up, closing the book lightly and laying it onto the table. He then walked out of the kitchen, returning with a coat.

"I want to get a new book so let me come with you," he said as he finished buttoning up the coat. Alfred looked at him a bit before he smiled, walking toward the door as he shoved his foot into his shoes, holding the door open for Arthur to walk ahead of him.

They walked to the bus stop, hopping onto one as they rode for about 10 minutes before landing in the town center. The sun shined down onto the people walking through the town, not many cars driving around as the trees were covered in lush green leaves and the flowers all blossoming, creating an array of differentcolors everywhere. The town center looked slightly old fashioned, giving off a rather pleasing vibe to those that were used to the bustling cities. Alfred didn't mind this place but Arthur adored it.

They walked into a cafe, the bell dinging to warn the workers they had a new customer entering. At the table placed on the side of the wall was a man who stood up, waving at Alfred who waved back. They both walked over to the table, Alfred giving the man a hug as Arthur watched from the side, until Alfred jumped out of the man's arms to introduce Arthur. The man gave him a soft smile before he shook hands with Arthur, the firmness to his grip surprising Arthur a bit. When the man find out who Arthur was, he glanced over to Alfred, the small small forming into a wide grin, who Arthur soon found out was Matthew.

As the two exchanged the DVD and talked, Arthur looked at the two, to see if they shared any brotherly resemblance. At first his mind noticed nothing. Just watching the two talk to each other gave Arthur a good idea on how different their personalities were; Alfred was flat out loud and out-going while Matthew was quiet and subtle. But the more he looked the more small details he could spot that were similar between the two. Their hairstyles were one thing but they shared the same hair color, and instead of the stubborn cowlick Alfred had Matthew had a rather long and curly one. How it didn't annoy his was beyond Arthur's comprehension. Their height seemed similar to, their build being almost the same, Alfred just being a bit more muscular.

"Are you two twins?" Arthur suddenly questioned. The two looked over at Arthur, surprised, before they looked back at each other and laughed. Arthur felt embarrassed, his face heating up as a waiter came to their table, giving them their orders; Arthur a cup of tea, Matthew a cup of coffee, and Alfred an overflowing platter of food and coffee.

"So are you?" Arthur questioned again, genuinely curious. Matthew took a sip from his coffee as he tilted his head to the side, glancing toward Alfred who was already finishing up one of the donuts.

"Funny story actually, I know we look pretty similar but we're actually half brothers," Matthew said, Alfred nodding his head in agreement as he swallowed. "We have the same father but different mother."

Arthur looked at the two, both disgusted and confused, the two laughing again when they saw his face. They both calmed down as Matthew took another sip of coffee, putting it back down onto the table. "Yeah, our father cheated on two women at the same time."

Arthur nodded his head solemnly when he took a sip out of his tea, watching the two as Alfred swallowed down some more food.

"Our bastard father banged and impregnated two women at the same time." Alfred began to say, Matthew slapping his arm, silently warning him to chew with his mouth closed. "We're only born three days apart! Can you believe that?" Alfred asked. Arthur nodded his head slightly, confused whether to believe it or not.

"And because of that we have different last names. As you know Alfred is Jones while mine is Williams, both from our mothers."

"There was absolutely no way either of us were going to take up that bastards name." Alfred commented, his mouth full of food.

"Thank god that man was loaded or our mothers would have gone batshit crazy," Matthew added before raising the coffee up to his mouth before he lowered it. "Speaking of mothers, how your mom doing?"

Alfred stopped eating for a second before he finished what he was chewing in his mouth, and instead of taking up another snack to eat, he picked up the mug that was filled with sugar-infested coffee.

"She's, fine." Alfred said rather quietly as he took a large gulp.

"Is she still-?" Matthew began saying until Alfred nodded his head and lowered the mug.

"Yeah, she still won't contact me after that talk," He looked over to the side, away from Matthew. He looked up from where he was gazing at, at Arthur who looked at him curiously for a second before he gave Alfred a slight smile, his eyes gleaming with reassurance and comfort. Alfred too smiled before he looked over at Matthew.

"But it's fine though. If she can't take it in then, she's going to be missing a lot," he said as he glanced back at Arthur who was holding the mug of tea with both of his hands.

"Well Al, I better get going so I can pack up for my trip to Canada," Matthew said as he pushed himself up from his chair, fishing through his pockets for his wallet. A twenty dollar was placed on the table check.

"That's right! Can't have your girl waiting for you too long right?" Alfred stated as he stretched. Matthew looked at Alfred, his cheeks tinted a bit red as he said, "actually its fiance, not girl."

Alfred got up, startled by Matthew's statement.

"No way, you proposed to her?" Alfred asked. Matthew gave him a slightly embarrassed nod as Alfred quickly walked over to Matthew, pulling him into a tight hug. Matthew was surprised at first before he raised his arms up to hug him back, savoring the perfect hugs his brother always gave him. The hugs that helped him get through so much, the brother that was always by his side.

"Congradulations! I'm so happy for you bro!" Alfred said as he pulled away from the hug giving him a bright and wide smile before hugging him again.

"Well, it's not just me!" Matthew began saying as Alfred finally released him from his hug. "Congratulations to you too!"

Alfred looked at him confused as Matthew began looking back and forth between Alfred and Arthur. "You finally got your crush after years of chasing after him!"

Alfred and Arthur both went petrified as Matthew continued looking at the both of them until he looked straight into Alfred's eyes, begging him to stop. Arthur stayed seated, lowering his half-finished mug of tea as he stared at Matthew. He quickly glanced over to Alfred, giving him a confused look that had a tint of something else mixed deep within it.

"Oh my god...Alfred I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to-" Matthew began to stutter out after noticing his big mistake. He thought Alfred finally did it, finally got the boy that he wouldn't stop talking about during their long distance calls, about the one named Arthur.

"It's okay Matt, it's-it's okay," Alfred said quietly. "I think I- we should get going," he said as he threw on his coat and backpack, giving Matthew one last final hug before he gave his farewells, wishing Matthew a happy life with fiance. Arthur then pushed out of his seat, shaking Matthew's hand as Matthew continued to apologize. He trailed behind Alfred to the door.

"Alfred!" Matthew yelled. Alfred opened the door, Arthur walking through, as he turning around to face his brother.

"I know it has been tough for you ever since she disowned you and all but if you ever run out of money or lose a place to live, know that you can come to my house. Your welcomed their anytime."

Alfred stared at him a bit before he smiled, giving him a thumbs up before exiting through the door, the bell ringing.

Alfred rushed over to the bus stop, Arthur already there, sitting. He was looking ahead, at something, nothing in particular, not noticing Alfred who sat down next to him. Alfred looked at Arthur, then forward to see what he was looking at, before the ground at his shoes. He clenched his first, feeling the sudden sweatiness as he swallowed. Alfred had no idea what to do, what he should do. Options raced through his mind as he searched for the perfect one, all of them being rejected until he came upon one. He debated, not so sure it was the best idea at same time knowing that it was. He took another deep breath as he prepared for the pain in his heart.

"It's-" He closed his eyes, his chest tightening already as he bit down on his lip a bit before continuing on with the sentence. "It's not you Arthur. The person Matthew was talking about was someone else, from grade school." Arthur was now looking at Alfred, his face mixed with a bit of emotions as Alfred continued to look down at his feet, his hand wanting to itch his neck. Arthur turned his head back forward, watching the cars go by.

"It must have been really awkward to be in that position, huh?" Alfred said chuckling a bit as he looked over at Arthur who continued to stare at the cars. Arthur then nodding his head slightly as he mumbled out, "yeah." The rest of the time they stayed silent, the two just sitting next to each other until the bus came, Arthur the first one to jump up from the seat, brushing his coat a bit before he extended an arm to Alfred, who just stared at it in awe before looking up at Arthur, a small but happy smile on his face. He grabbed the hand, being pulled up from the bench as Arthur pulled him to through the bus entrance, the both of them boarding on the bus with no problem as they sat in the double seat, their hands now disconnected.

Alfred stared out of the window the whole trip back, not wanting to look at Arthur. He felt extremely guilty knowing that he had to lie to him. But he didn't want Arthur to find out like this, he didn't want his feeling to be discovered just because someone blurted it out. He wanted to say it when it was time, the time that Alfred had some confidence that Arthur may agree. But he still lied.

His heart tightened a bit as he thought in his mind, how he hoped he would never have to feel this much pain again.


	4. Everything I Wasn't

The two were able to move on from that incident without any major problems. Arthur had accepted Alfred's lie, causing the American to feel even guiltier as they continued on with their everyday lives. But at the same time he was thankful, for if he did tell Arthur that he felt about him like that, then he may have not been able to continue visiting Arthur.

Some time passed until Alfred was able to forget the lie, by the time the beginning of May rolled around, the spring festival coming to town. It wasn't anything too big or special, just a day where people would prepare their food and shopping stands for others that were interested in buying. Alfred was excited about the food, but he was mostly excited about the final event, which were the fireworks.

It took a bit of convincing for Alfred but was finally able to pull Arthur out of his apartment, the two of them getting onto a bus as they rode into the town center. As the sky started to darken, they went to multiple stands, mostly food as Alfred bought one after another, sharing it with Arthur who especially liked to drink the soda. Alfred ended up blushing everytime he took a sip.

But because of eating too much, Alfred's stomach gave in, Alfred rushing off to the bathroom as he left Arthur waiting for him at the brick wall. People flocked every, some going onto the field to find a good spot to watch the fireworks as others went into the streets to buy stuff. Arthur looked up at the sky, spotting only a slight number of stars because of the not fully dark sky and the clouds that were passing by before shifting down to look at his feet, kicking at the gravel aimlessly before a voice called out to him.

"Um, excuse me?" Arthur looked up, startled a bit as he saw a man in front of him. The man blinked a bit before he gave Arthur a small smile.

"I'm gotten separated from my group and everything," he began to mumbled as he glanced down at the ground. "So I am now lost and was wondering if you could give me directions to-" he said as he shuffled through his pocket for something, only to pull out nothing. He opened his palm, a bit confused before he looked up at Arthur, a nervous smile on his face as he dryly chuckled.

"It seems that I've lost the one thing that was going to help me find my friends," he said before he sighed. Arthur looked at him a bit pitifully before he pushed himself up from the wall.

"I don't know if I'll be much help but do you remember, maybe what kind of store it may have been?" Arthur questioned.

"Well they said it was near the food stands and everything but," he said as he looked over at the line of stands. "I don't think going to each and individual stands will help me find them any sooner."

"Well, maybe the best option is to wait here. There isn't a lot of people by the wall so it may be easier for you friends to find you." Arthur said, sticking his hands into his pockets briefly before he pulled them out again.

"I guess you are right." The man agreed as he went over and stood next to Arthur.

"Are you waiting for anyone by chance as well?" He questioned, Arthur looking over to the man.

"Yes, he had too much fun eating half of the food at the festival and his stomach couldn't handle it." Arthur chuckled a bit, raising his hand up to his mouth.

"Well that was a very stupid of him, don't you think?" Arthur looked over confused. "What do you mean?"

"that he such an nice looking man like you alone." Arthur gulped a bit, not sure how to react to the sudden compliment as the other watched Arthur. But before one would consider him looking suspiciously too long he smiled, adverting the problem. He now knew that he could approach Arthur in a straight forward way.

By this time Alfred was trotting back from the bathroom, quickly so he could return back to Arthur side, at one point getting pulled into the crowd, wandering aimlessly, hoping that everything would clear up. He looked around for a bit, noticing only people until he saw Arthur through sheer coincidence, pushing himself out of the mob toward the British, his smile broad until people finally stopped blocking his view of Arthur. He stopped, confused and startled as he watch Arthur talking to a man next to him. His heart tensed up a bit, jealous of what he was seeing in front of him until he noticed the movement of the man. He may have been hallucinating or it may have been real, but either way Alfred saw the man's hand move,

toward,

Arthur's,

ass.

It all happened too fast for anyone to have been able to comprehend everything that happened in that small moment. But in the end, what only matters the most is how everything is played out.

The man was up against the wall, trying to pry off an arm that was pushed against his throat, as he choked out incoherent words. Arthur stood besides the two, getting the full shocking view of Alfred threatening to crush the man's windpipe with his arm as he held the man pinned on the wall. He looked at the boy first, shocked before he looked at Alfred, a shiver running down his spine as his head refused to look at the American. Alfred's face was mostly concealed by the shadow of his hair, but Arthur was able to get a glimpse of his eyes, the blue eyes that were darkened to almost coal black mercilessly narrowed down onto the man.

"Alfred," he said in a slightly shaky voice, Alfred not hearing him as he watched the man continue to choke.

"Alfred!" Arthur finally yelled. Alfred eyes shifted over to Arthur, causing Arthur to take a step back from the cold gaze. "W-what are you doing!" he finally said after mustering up the courage, his fist clenched as they shook slightly. Alfred then leaned forward towards the man's face as he sneered, "Don't go fucking near him," pronouncing each word with a strong command. When the man didn't reply quickly he pressed his arm harder against his neck as he saw the man grimace before nodding his head. Alfred then backed away, letting the man stand on his own again, his hands on his neck as he breathed in large amounts of air. "What the fuck man!" He yelled as he supported his weight by leaning against the wall, looking around as he made eye contact with Arthur. "Not even worth the fucking dare and yet I get this. Little queer bitch," he spat, starting to walk away from them.

Alfred turned around, ready to attack him again until something else hit his arm, spinning his head around to see Arthur.

"What the bloody hell was that Alfred!" he yelled, his face red with anger, his patience running thin.

"I said what the bloody fuck was that for!"

"To save you!" Alfred replied in defense, his teeth clenched down tightly.

"You don't have to be that fucking violent about it Alfred! You could have killed that man!"

"He was just trying to get into your pants Arthur!" He growled, his voice now deeper than his usual voice. Arthur unconsciously gulped the saliva that began accumulating in his mouth.

"That still doesn't mean you have to almost kill a man!"

"And you wouldn't have been in danger if you stayed with him?!" Alfred said as he took a step toward Arthur, Arthur taking a step back. "Plus he was flirting for you only as a dare!" He took another step, Arthur taking one back. "He was trying to get into your fucking pants so he could get the approve from his fucking posse Arthur! You think you would have been able to fucking defend yourself with those muscles of yours, huh?!" Arthur was now pressed against the brick, staring right into Alfred's dark eyes as he registered Alfred's last line.

"You think I'm fucking weak?" Arthur questioned quietly, his eyebrows furrowing as his fear was quickly replaced by anger of being insulted. Alfred moved back a bit when Arthur's head moved forward.

"You think I can't fucking defend myself? That all I am is just a weak bloody man that need to be chaperoned wherever he goes?" His voice accelerated as he spoke, getting louder and more offensive as Alfred leaned back a bit away from Arthur.

"Is that what you're saying Alfred?! Are you saying that I'm so fucking weak that I can't even punch a man if I have too?! That I can't fucking protect myself?! I'm not a fucking child Alfred!" Arthur yelled, before he clenched his mouth shut so tight that his teeth began to hurt. The two stared at other, both of their eyes light with determination until Alfred fuse ran out.

"You know what!" He said as he raised his arms up in quick defeat, not knowing another way to end this verbal fight because of his lack of thinking things out. "Yes! Yes! You are! I said it, you happy! That you can't fucking defend yourself and that I'm-"

He never got to finish though, for his sentence was interrupted by a fist that came into contact with his mouth. Alfred shuffled back a bit, blinking in a confused manner as he raised his hand to touch his stinging cheek. He reeled his head back to look at Arthur, his hand still fisted as he started to take steady intakes of breath. Alfred was angry, pissed off a bit as he watched Arthur look up, his anger completely diminishing as he saw the disappointment and hurt look in Arthur's eyes. Alfred stood up straight, finally recollecting and returning back to his right mind as he watched Arthur walk off into the crowd, not being able to move or say anything as his mind screamed at him to do something, something right. But it was too late.

The hand that was nursing the cheek moved away, covering his eyes from the outside world as he leaned against the brick wall, sighing with resentment to himself. He never thought he could be this disgusted about himself until today. He had never thought he could hate himself so much. As punishment his mind kept flashing the expression Arthur gave off before he left, the face causing his chest to continuously twist as he winced a bit from the pain. He hoped that it never stopped, until Arthur forgave him for how much he degraded him there in such a small time. A small spark of jealousy leading to one of the biggest flops he had ever had to face in his life, such a good day wasted to nothing. All he wanted to do now was cry.

Alfred was finally able to suppress his needs as he pushed himself up from the wall, determined to find Arthur. What he would do after he found him, he didn't know. But all he knew was that he needed to find Arthur. He wandered through the streets a bit, the smell of food not distracting Alfred in the slightest as he continued to search. He had no appetite to eat after what happened.

A voice erupted through the town all of a sudden, announcing that the fireworks were to begin in 10 minutes, people beginning to rush over to the field, Alfred being pulled along. By the time he stopped moving he was deep in the field, many people standing around him, making it hard for him too look for Arthur as he tried. After a while he gave up and looked up at the sky, the starless sky. He searched through it a bit, not seeing anything. He sighed with defeat as he clenched his teeth shut, his fists balled into fists as he kept looking up.

All of sudden a droplet fell onto Alfred's glasses, surprising the American a bit before it was joined by many more. The large crowd began to disperse, some screaming as the rain came down in a surprisingly fast pace. Alfred kept his feet planted on the ground as he looked at the horizon, people banging his shoulders as they rushed to go past him. He could feel the water soaking into his clothes, welcoming the cold sensation as his clothes stuck tightly onto him. He raised a hand up, pulling off his glasses before he stuck them into his pockets, finally being able to see a bit more clear as he wiped some water off of his face, only to get poured on by more.

People continued to run by Alfred, the number diminishing greatly as he looked around. He suddenly stopped, to looked to his side where another man was standing, letting the rain soak him to the core as he was looking up at the sky. Even with multiple people running by him, even though the rain was thick, even though his glasses were off, he knew exactly who that was.

And he didn't hesitate for one second to reach out and hold his hand. Arthur turned around, startled as he made eye contact with Alfred. They stayed like that for a while, Alfred relieved that he was able to find him. Arthur continued to stare up at him, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"My apartment is by here!" Alfred yelled, barely able to say anything through the thick rain and before Arthur could agree he was being pulled along by Alfred.

They both quickly ran to Alfred's apartment, Alfred dodging people in front of him as Arthur struggled to keep up with him. They eventually made it to the apartment building, thundering beginning to rumble as the rain showed no sign of stopping. Alfred kicked open his apartment room door, quickly pulling in Arthur in before he slammed it shut before they both panted as the ground where they stood became a puddle, the rain water dripping down onto the ground. Lightning struck outside, the room flashing with light, allowing Arthur to see what the apartment looked. It was small, there only being one room not counting the bathroom. There was a small bed pushed up in the corner of the room, next to a dresser, a short table in the middle where a laptop was.

Alfred quickly glanced over at Arthur before he turned and looked at his feet, kicking off his shoes. He then began walking into the room, Arthur's eyes watching his back as he stayed standing near the door.

"The shower is in the door next to you so if you want to jump in and warm yourself up go right ahead." Arthur turned his head to the side as another bolt of lightning came down, illuminating the metal handle. He nodded his head slightly as he pulled the door open.

When Alfred finally heard the shower running, he let a breath he was holding back out. His mind was blank, nothing processing as he tried to think. He felt lost, so very lost. He had no clue what to do.

Arthur was also lost. He just stood in the shower, letting the warm water heat up his body as he kept his face lowered. He knew he wasn't at fault and he knew he was right from the beginning to the end, but something inside of him felt depressed. He didn't understand why. People had talked trash to him, people have insulted him before, none of their words ever getting into Arthur's mind, crushing his self-confidence. But today, it hit him right in the vital spot, piercing right through the middle. And it hurt.

When Arthur finally forced himself out of the shower, he quickly dried himself and changed into a pair of clothes that were layed out for him as he listened to the dryer, the content inside spinning. The clothes that he was wearing were a bit baggy on him, especially the shirt that seemed a few sizes bigger than what Arthur was used to. He wrapped a towel around his neck, rubbing his hair as he walked to the door, stopping right before his hand touched the handle. He was worried, frightened, scared of what would happen the moment he walked out of this room, before took a deep breath and forced his hand to grip around the handle, turning it as slowly as he could. He took a step forward, almost losing his balance as his legs shook a bit.

The room was still dark, none of the lights haven been turned on. Arthur reached up to the towel, pulling it down as he looked around, his body stiffening when caught sight of Alfred standing up from the bed, the room too dark for Arthur to see Alfred's face clearly. And Alfred began walking toward Arthur. Every step Alfred took Arthur took one back until he the wall stopped him. As Alfred continued to get closer Arthur gulped, raising his chin up in defense as he prepared himself for the worst, shutting his eyes tightly.

Something suddenly fell onto his shoulder, the weight causing Arthur to lean on the wall as he closed his eyes even tighter.

"I'm so sorry…." Arthur heard Alfred mumble. Arthur cracked open his eyes, welcomed by the sight of Alfred's golden hair, shining even though there was no light source in the room. Arthur tried to move his head a bit to see Alfred, whose face was planted onto Arthur's left shoulder.

"I'm so sorry I just, just went out of control and did such things and became too violent and yelled at you too and I did all of those things that I would never ever mean to do to anyone and got scared that they would do something bad to you and I know I'm stupid and I know this is pathetic and everything and…" Alfred went on, slowing down at the end as his breath became shaky.

"Just, please don't hate me…"

A flash of lightning came down, illuminating the dark room for an instant as Arthur looked at the golden hair. His shoulder began to feel a bit damp, not taking much notice about it as he payed attention to the aching pain in his chest. It was beating in an erratic pace, mostly because of the adrenaline that surged through his body when Alfred started to walk towards him. But now, every time it thumped it hurt, painfully.

The two stayed that way for some time, neither of them moving a single bit as they both agonized over the pain they felt deep within them. Alfred thought that this was it, as he began to raise his head. He now knew that it was over, that Arthur wouldn't forgive him. So this is how it is going to end huh? Alfred though as he started to move away from Arthur, sighing softly until he felt a pair of arms come around his shoulder, shoving him back toward Arthur. Alfred stood still, surprised as a hand came up to his hair, petting it. Arthur didn't know what to say, he had unconscious pulled Alfred back into a hug when he started to move away.

Arthur did believe that actions spoke louder than words though.

Alfred soon snaked his hands around Arthur's back, pulling him even closer and his face was pressed more and more onto Arthur. He took in a deep breath, smelling his detergent and soap yet, he still smelled Arthur. It really had no definite smell but whenever he smelled it, it filled him with the feeling comfort and ease. It felt, safe.

They continued to hold onto each other until Arthur pushed Alfred, finally getting a look at his face. Alfred looked down a bit confused as Arthur raised a hand up and wiped the trail of tears that streaked the American's face. Alfred stayed silent for a bit, watching Arthur face, even though the room still lacked light.

"Did, did it hurt?" Alfred blinked a bit when he heard Arthur, the Briton's hand now gingerly touching the American's cheek that was beginning to show signs of bruise along with the red swollen skin as Alfred continued to watch Arthur's face.

Arthur then looked up, his eyes making contact with Alfreds for a moment, the green and the blue. Alfred continued to stare, dazing into Arthur's eyes a bit as they were forest green tinted with the a light emerald shade, glistening, almost shining as he continued to stare. But Arthur soon turned his head to the side, breaking the connection, Alfred blinking a bit as he tried to get used to the darkness again.

"Nah." Alfred suddenly said. Arthur turned his head back to look at Alfred, his brows furrowed his confusion. "Your punches aren't that hard anyway so it didn't hurt that much." Arthur scowled at him, letting a small hiss out as Alfred laughed, his voice echoing through the room. Arthur then lightly punched Alfred in the shoulder, the American shifting back a bit, still laughing as Arthur stayed angry. He yelled at Alfred a bit more, Alfred not caring in the slightest as he walked over to the fridge, pulling it open as he questioned if Arthur wanted anything to drink. Arthur made sure to only smile while Alfred's back was turned on him.

Alfred knew that he made the perfect choice, happy that he fell in love with Arthur of all people. After all, he was able to accept that side of Alfred, the side even he was too terrified to face.

They ended up talking for the rest of the night, both of them sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall as the rain, thunder, and lightning continued on. But this time, there was something completely different.

Alfred told Arthur his life story. It wasn't like he was hiding it from Arthur to begin with but it felt good to be able to finally tell Arthur. Throughout the whole time Arthur listened diligently, barely interrupting as Alfred talked.

His elementary school years consisted mostly of bullying. In the beginning, it was fine, most kids were just learning each others names and how to associate with people so they were too occupied with finding friends. When second grade came, he was teased about his chubbiness a bit by the girls, the guys not caring too much about it. It wasn't until the third year when everything turned around, people beginning to pick on others to to make themselves feel more confident about themselves as the cliques forming. Alfred's chubby weight was an easy topic for others to tease him about, causing him to be constantly told off by others as they continued to bully him with rude names along with spreading false rumors. Alfred was a sweet kid that didn't want to cause any problems or harm onto people, thus him not being able to tell any parents or teachers what he had to face. He was a social outcast, the one that never had a partner.

"Fifth grade was a year full of surprises," Alfred said as he continued on with the story, Arthur wrapped up in a blanket as the thunder outside rumbled.

He was still the outcast in the class, the one no one wanted to partner up with. He had grown used to the solitude, spending his free time reading his favorite superhero stories as other continued to tease him. At this point whenever someone made fun of his weight he would just nervously laughed, agreeing with them. They soon found him boring, searching for their next victim. Around a quarter into the year there was a transfer student that joined his class. His name was Toris, and had a thick accent after all of the years he had spent living in Lithuania. Kids flocked the poor shy boy, asking him about his home country, the boys in the class becoming a bet envious of Toris because of the attention he was receiving from the girls, which led to the boys refusing to allow Toris to join their friend group. Because of that he ended up being partnered up with the one no one wanted to pair up with, and because of that he became aquainted with Alfred, enjoying the boy's bright and comforting presence. It didn't take long for the two to click, their lunches, class time, and recess spent together.

Alfred loved playing and being with Toris. He was kind, intelligent, and respectful; everything Alfred wanted as a friend rather than those phonies that acted nice in front of each other while they talked trash behind their backs. All that mattered to Alfred now was having Toris by his side. Kids still sadly continued to make fun of Alfred but he ignored it, knowing that there was someone by his side, that he wasn't alone.

It was near the end of the year when Alfred began to notice change. Toris was becoming shy once again, obviously hiding something from Alfred whenever Alfred questioned if he was okay. At one point Alfred yelled at him with frustration, frightening Toris as he finally spilled to Alfred what he had been hiding.

A week passed since that day, and Alfred was eating alone at a lunch table, spending his time reading comic books once again. His dear friend Toris, was back in Lithuania. The last month of the school year continued on like that fashion, but with only one major difference. Instead of just insulting Alfred about his weight, they began to insult Toris, just for being different.

Alfred was perfectly fine with being trash talked to. He was perfectly fine with being insulted with rude names as well as the crude and obviously false rumors the kids in his class would say. He didn't enjoy it in any way and it did erode any of the self-confidence he may have had left, but he was able to tolerate that. Except for people making fun of his friend. His anger continued to pile and pile and pile, until the day before graduation came. It was during recess when it happened. Alfred was as usual sitting at the picnic table reading as a group of boys walked by the table, yelling out their insult. Alfred didn't remember what they said specifically, but he remembered something snapping from within him and before he knew it he was wrestling down a boy as one ran out calling for a teacher and the other one tried to pry Alfred off. Alfred came home with a bloody nose, black eye and a few bruises on his stomach as one of the three boys went home with a fractured hand.

Middle school began and just like before, Alfred was left out of everything. Middle school also brought along puberty, his face becoming oily as it was littered with pimples, being forced to wear his glasses after hours of sitting in front of a screen and his teeth were constantly in pain because of his braces. But now people avoided him because they were scared of what Alfred might do to them, than because of the rumors.

High school quickly came, Alfred not caring a single bit. It wasn't until during one of his study halls did everything change for him. Study halls were all located in the cafeteria, people being able to sit with their friends or alone if they wanted to. Most of the times he did sit alone until someone else began to work at his table. The two ignored each other at first, but the other began seeking comfort during these hour long periods, slowly getting Alfred to converse with him. It was small in the beginning but their conversation became bigger and deeper, the two becoming very good friends at the end of the day. The man was a grade above him and introduced Alfred to multiple stuff, including the sport he was playing in; football. Alfred quickly became interested in the sport even though he had never played it, something about the game making Alfred blood burst with adrenaline. From there on the man helped him train, spending hours on end in the weights room, finally beginning to burn off the fat as it was replaced by muscle. By the next year Alfred was able to get on the team.

Everything started to change around him after that. More people started talking to Alfred, more people started to get familiar with him. Even some of the people he remembered from elementary school were acting all nice to him, as if none of the events of the past happened. At first Alfred was happy, excited about all this attention he was finally receiving, happily bathing in it. He was always smiling now, school not as dreadful as the past.

But when gaining, one must sacrifice.

Alfred had to repress many of his hobbies to stay in the group now, not doing anything that they would consider pathetic or something a loser would do. He had to act a certain way in the group, meaning that he had to act superior than others, just because they were higher up the social ladder. He was dragged along to parties, forced by peer pressure to do things he knew was wrong. His obliviousness was constantly manipulated, others taking advantage of it as they acted innocent for Alfred to support them in deeds that were obviously their fault. He was the mask that concealed the darkness, becoming the symbol of what everyone outside of the popular group began to detest. To Alfred, he thought he was finally at the pinnacle of success when really, he was the low of the low. He was too blinded by the fame to know what was going on behind the false smiles of others.

It wasn't until Alfred tried to confront the man he shared multiple study halls talking too did he know what was truly going on. Whenever Alfred tried to talk to him he would refuse, pushing himself away from Alfred until one day Alfred cornered him, begging him to tell him why he won't talk to him anymore. And he said it. He said everything that no one had the guts to tell him.

The words that the man told Alfred never escaped his mind. After that incident Alfred tried to notice what was going on in his surroundings then what was going on with him. And he saw everything. He saw how screwed up the system was and how screwed up everyone in it were. He thought that things were different now that everyone had matured since elementary school, only to be proven false. Nothing had changed since elementary school. Everyone was just the same child deep inside, the darkness eating and gnawing away at people, feasting on what mischief they were to do next. In the world he thought he was finally shining he looked around, not being able to find a single friend that he could talk to, relate to, and rely on.

Alfred F. Jones had never ever felt so lonely in his life.

Senior year rolled around, the last year that Alfred was going to have to deal with all of the bullshit he was sick and tired of listening too. He was walking back with a bunch of his "friends" after their final football game, the score being a definite win for Alfred's team. He was trailing in the front, just walking as he barely participated in any of the conversation the guys behind him were having. They talked, first about how happy they were to win this year along with who was going to have parties because of today. Then the conversation quickly went sour, the boys beginning to joke around about others, about who was hot, about who was ugly, about which boys were pussies, about which girls were the grade slut, about rape, about anything they could talk about, degrading everyone they could get their hands on. Alfred stopped, the boys conversation coming to a halt as they questioned Alfred what he was doing. He told them to stop talking about people that way. A boy snickered, saying watch me. Alfred demanded them to stop again, saying that this was a warning. They laughed again, ignoring Alfred as they continued on with their conversation, this time, the name Toris briefly coming up, the boys knowing that it was a tender topic.

The next noise they made were panicking yells.

Alfred came home that day with a busted lip, a black eye, bruises all along his body as well as a bleeding knuckle. The boys that day went back home, one with a broken nose, another with a broken leg, and two with broken ribs.

Then he graduated out of high school, leading into the worst the trial he had to face with his mother, leading him to getting kicked out of the house. With the minimal amount of money he had saved up he rented an apartment, working hard day in and day out for him to have both enough money for food and the rent, as well as saving money up for college that he wanted to at least attend.

"And after working hard and harder and super harder, I was able to get into college!" Arthur looked up at Alfred who was smiling, his head bobbing a bit back and forth. "And after all that I devoted myself to be friendly and help everyone, this time spending my time with real friends then the fakos like back then."

And because of all of these events, he fell in love with Arthur. If he hadn't seen how much Arthur couldn't give a shit about others, how strong he was to be able to stand by his own, how he could walk away after getting insulted, not looking fazed in the slightest - this was everything that Alfred had always wished he had the strength to do. Resolving problems he has with others calmly by using clever remarks, instead of having to resort to violence. Not caring what others had to say about himself, and worrying more about his own happiness. And after seeing Arthur on that rainy day, hold the boy in a tight hug, Alfred was able to see that you didn't need to have to have everything go your way, that as long as you had the important someone by your side, you would never regret the choices you made to get where you are now.

"What was the guy's name again?" Arthur questioned.

"Davie, his name was Davie."

It stayed silent for a bit, the rain creating slight tapping noises as it hit the glass window, the only sound that was heard until Arthur started to chuckle. Alfred looked over to his side, bewildered in what caused the Britain to suddenly start laughing like this. "What?" Alfred questioned, his voiced tinted with a bit of annoyance.

"I just, thought that your like a dog, a puppy." Arthur said as he played with the hem of the blanket. "You're kind and cuddly and are nice to everyone yet, you don't know how strong your jaws and claws really are." Arthur looked up at the window, another strike of lightning lighting up the room. "Like a puppy in the rain." Alfred kept looking at Arthur in a questioning way.

"Why in the rain?" Alfred asked.

"I don't know, really. Maybe it's because you didn't deserve to go through everything you had to, just like how a puppy doesn't deserve being left out in the rain by their owner." He said calmly. Alfred jumped up from his bed onto the floor, trotting over to the cabinet as he pulled out a small bag of chips, hurrying back to the bed as he opened the bag.

"You want some?" Alfred asked, the bag in front of Arthur so he could take some if he wanted to. Arthur reached over and took a chip.

The two sat in silence for a while, the booming of the thunder echoing through the apartment as they continued to eat the chips. As Alfred tried to finish it, Arthur's head lolled onto Alfred's shoulder, surprising the American as he looked down. He wasn't expecting to see Arthur awake though as Arthur stared at something across from them. He felt his heart hum a bit, his body warming up steadily as his body felt at ease, almost as if he took a drug. But then again, isn't love a drug?

"I have a brother named Peter," Arthur said all of a sudden, startling Alfred. "He was the only person I could rely on and I was the only person he could rely on." Alfred looked down at Arthur, who was still staring at the something in front of him.

"Do you miss him?" Alfred questioned as he crumbled up the bag, throwing it so it landed on the counter.

"Yeah," Arthur whispered as he glanced up at Alfred before looking at the blanket, pulling it higher. "I miss him a lot."


	5. The End of the Beginning

Weeks passed since that incident, the two sleeping next to each other for the whole night as the rain continued to pour down. They continued on with their everyday things, attending college, failing at cooking, going to work, and just spending their time with each other. Everything was the same to Alfred yet, different. He couldn't pin point it at all.

Arthur also felt the change, getting excited whenever he new Alfred should be back soon or when they made even the slightest contact. His heart wouldn't calm down for a minute, beating unnecessary hard as he asked himself what was wrong.

Alfred also seems to shine in front of Arthur along with his uneasy beating chest.

One day, on a nice sunny day, Alfred got back from his shift early. In his hands he carried some paper, glancing down at it every now and then as he held back a squeal of excitement. After a fair amount of research, Alfred was able to find the perfect date and perfect place, to go star gazing. He had been waiting for a while, happy that he could finally do it. After all, he wanted to look at the stars with Arthur.

He was grinning like a fool for all he knew.

When Alfred entered the apartment, he heard the shower running as he took off his shoes, making sure they were in the corner of the wall before he walked toward the kitchen to the table. He kept staring down at the paper, reading through the information again, his smile still remaining as he notice some paper scattered on the table. He lowered the paper in his hands onto the table, looking at the ones that were already there until he came upon one, his heart stopping the moment his eyes gazed down at it.

His breath quickened as his body released sweat, his hand shaking a bit as he reached down and picked up the paper, reading through it to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, to make sure he wasn't going crazy.

"Alfred?" A voice called, Alfred snapping out of his mind to look over at the doorway as Arthur walked through, wearing a dress shirt and suit pants as he dried his hair with a towel.

"What is this?" Alfred questioned, his voice shaky as his heart raced a thousand beats a second. Arthur looked at him confused a bit until he noticed the paper in Alfred's hand. His movement stopped, looking down at the paper petrified.

"Why do you-" Alfred began to say as he looked back down at the paper, the bold letters at the top mocking him as he read it over and over again, hoping that maybe he was hallucination or going crazy now. "Why do you have a marriage registration form?"

Arthur's left arm grabbed onto the towel, it falling down with his arm as the right hand held onto the left arm's elbow. He looked at the ground, his head tilted to the side. "It's to get married."

Earlier that day, while Alfred was at work Arthur got a call, a call from the man he hadn't talk to since he got the fever. Arthur wasn't ecstatic about the call at first until the man explained why he called. He wanted to see if Arthur was willing to take up the offer of marriage again.

He later explained how the person that replaced Arthur was planning on selling the company immediately after the marriage for easy cash, not caring much about actually running it. And since they got rid of him they needed the next best person, who was Arthur. Once he was married to the CEO's daughter he was to undergo many lessons on running the business, and when they thought he was good enough to be on his own they would place him to be the new CEO. The only reason he had to marrying the CEO's daughter was so if there was a divorce, the retired CEO's family could still get a fair share of the business. But Arthur didn't pay attention to any of that, for all he could think about was

Money.

But for some reason when Arthur told Alfred about the news, he felt rather depressed.

Alfred looked down at the paper again, this time to see how much was filled in. Everything was filled in. Arthur was going to actually do it.

"Wh-why are you doing this?" Alfred mumbled out, so so so very confused to what was going on now. Arthur didn't say anything.

Alfred looked over at Arthur. He wanted to demand him an answer, he wanted to yell and scream at him, but, he couldn't do anything. All he could do was stand there and wait for Arthur as his heart continued to twist and pull.

"Why are you doing this Arthur?" He asked again. Arthur glanced up a bit before looking back at the ground. Alfred walked toward Arthur, his hand gripping the Briton's shoulders as he let the registration form all to the ground.

"Tell me Arthur. Why!" Arthur mumbled something as he kept looking at the ground. "I can't hear you Ar-"

"It's for the fucking money!" Arthur yelled out, moving away from Alfred. He stared at Alfred, his teeth clenched down as his knuckles turned white. Alfred gave him a pained face causing something in Arthur's chest to tug at him.

"Why would you want money?!" Alfred yelled back, but still quieter than Arthur.

"Because you can't do anything without it!" Alfred looked at Arthur, surprised. "Because money is what makes the world go round Alfred, without it we have fucking nothing!" Arthur took some slow breaths, hoping that it would help him calm down. "You of all people should know Alfred, after all that hard work you faced, and what you have yet to face!"

Alfred stared back at Arthur silently, a thought coming into his mind. "What about Peter? Does he know about this?"

Arthur looked at him with his brows furrowed not replying. "Does Peter know about this?!" Alfred asked again.

"Of course he doesn't know!" Arthur said, swallowing some spit.

"Why not?!" Alfred questioned. "He's your brother isn't he?!"

"Cause he's fucking dead!" Alfred went silent. Arthur stayed where he was, looking down at the ground before at Alfred. "He's fucking dead and he's been fucking dead for three years now!"

"Tha-that still doesn't mean you need to get married for money!"

"No, no, no, no no no no no. I need that money Alfred. I need that money to survive in this world!"

"That's far from it! You don't need money to be able to live a happy life Arthur!" Alfred yelled as Arthur went silent for a moment, looking down at the ground.

"That's what I though Alfred, that's what I bloody thought for a while. Until my parents left me and my brothers, and when my fucking brothers left me alone with an infant Peter, because we didn't have enough money to pay back the debt they kept taking out!" Arthur reeled back, both of his hands now touching his cheek.

"But-"

"He got fucking run over! He got run over by a fucking car Alfred and I rushed him over to the hospital and I asked them if they could save him and they said couldn't! His body was by far too weak to be able to survive on his own. He was fucking malnutritioned after the years I spent working hard for the money to pay back the debt that my family left me! I couldn't get him fucking treated because I didn't have enough money to pay for his surgeries and for him to stay at the hospital and pay for my college tuition and my apartment rent! I had to watch him fucking die in front of me!" Arthur panted a bit, Alfred staring back at him with complete disbelief.

"If I had the money then I could have fed Peter the nutrition he needed and if I had the money then I could have had Peter go through the surgery and correct treatment! If I had the money then my parents wouldn't have left me and if I had the money my brothers wouldn't have left me! If I had the fucking money..." Arthur stopped for a bit as his hand went over to cup his face.

"I wouldn't be so lonely."

Alfred had no clue what to do anymore. His mind was blank, no thoughts passing through. His heart in the other hand twisted and pulled, the movement causing Alfred an immense amount of pain. He couldn't go against Arthur's thoughts after this. He wasn't prepared for this at all. He thought about Arthur who was lost, crying alone as he begged for people to stay, only for them to leave. He had dealt with so much and now he was crumbling whether if it was his personality or his defensive wall. Alfred didn't know. He didn't know what to do anymore.

But, he hated the idea of his love marrying someone just because he needed something, to fill the hole that has been laying empty for ages. Arthur was too terrified to go on living without the money he needed.

But he thought back to when he first met Arthur and all of their memories they shared from there on, no memories having to do with Arthur's thirst for money. It was quite the opposite really; he was constantly apologizing, sorry about how he wasn't able to support his family, support himself. He pushed all of his families problems onto his shoulders, blaming it all on himself. But he didn't go searching for another source of money. Instead he was recovering, moving away from the need to satisfy. Alfred was actually curing him the whole time he stayed with Arthur, only for Arthur to be thrown back into the turmoil when he was given another offer, to complete that hungry need.

All of a sudden Arthur began to laugh a bit, quiet but loud enough for Alfred to hear. Arthur looked up, right into Alfred's eyes.

"You're here for the money too aren't you?" He suddenly said, Alfred's mind confused.

"No wha-"

"You want it just as much as me don't you! Just like everyone else. Who would want to be with me? Unless I had the money that so many want! You just wanted to get the money just like everyone else you-"

"No! That's not true!" Alfred yelled back in defense.

"Why? why would that not be true? Why are you not like everyone else?"

"Because-!" he stopped for a moment. He never thought how this was going to be how it happened, how it went down. But he wasn't going to make the same mistake as he did the first night Arthur freaked out, and if Arthur was going to go through with the marriage.

"Because I fucking love you!"

Arthur stopped moving all of a sudden, his eyes widening as he looked over at Alfred.

"Th-there's no way you can fucking love me Alfred. You just, can't…" He mumbled out.

"I do fucking love you and I've been in fucking love with you starting the day we met! Even before that!" Arthur continued to stare at Alfred with disbelief, his head shaking the smallest amount as Alfred started to walk toward him.

"No, you don't love me boy, you can't fucking love me. Its all just lies. I'm getting married anyway. They are all-"

Arthur never got to finish his sentence because his lips became occupied for another purpose. Alfred pulled Arthur's arm, pulling Arthur into a kiss before he could continue talking. It wasn't a deep kiss or anything, just two lips being smushed together but still a kiss, like teenagers when they first kiss; small, awkward, yet sweet. Alfred still loved it though, he didn't know he could feel this happy from such a small thing. Arthur's lips felt warm and soft, the sensation like nothing he had ever felt before. Arthur's eyes were wide open with shock, his whole body stiffened as he felt something flutter deep inside of him. He felt like he didn't need anything else in the world now, he felt like the world was already his, and their was nothing that would be able to stop him, that he was uncontrollable.

Alfred slowly pulled away, opening his eyes as he looked at Arthur, who was still petrified, no reaction whatsoever. Alfred laughed dryly a bit as he looked down at the ground, his bangs covering his eyes as he moved back. Arthur stayed in the same spot.

Alfred then looked up at Arthur, his cerulean eyes mixed with sadness, hurt, and adoration as he stared right at him, tears streaking down his face, a small smile on his mouth.

"Farewell Arthur"

And he turned around, sniffling a bit as he walked out into the hallway to grab his shoes to leave. The door closed behind him with a slight click, leaving Arthur alone in his house.

Arthur stayed at the same spot. He raised a hand up to his chest, grabbing onto a handful of his dress shirt as he began to pant. It was thumping fast, in a quickening pace with a never ending uncontrollable feeling before it clenched, a slight pain erupting from his heart as his eyesight became blurry. He raised the other hand up to his cheek, feeling the warm tears trail down. After everything that he said, after everything he let out, the part he ended up crying at was when Alfred left him.

Arthur fell onto his knees, sobbing into his hands as he finally understood the fact that he ended up falling in love with Alfred as well.

And he truly didn't need anything else in the world other than him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hello everyone! Welcome back!" said the tv that had been left on for hours, illuminating the dark room. All of the windows were covered by thick curtains, the only other source of light being the one coming from the computer where a man was sitting at, working away. Other than that, the room was a mess. Books were piled up on the wall as there were random blankets scattered across the floor. Every flat surface had some sort of wrapper or plastic container from food, the owner too lazy to clean it up.

"So today we have a special guest, and you ladies out there will love him. Please welcome, the inventor of the JW products, Alfred Jones!" The woman on the screen said, her hair and makeup perfectly done as she got up to shake hands with Alfred who appeared from the side of the stage and gave her a hug, the crowd cheering as they sat back down.

"Hello Mr. Jones."

"Hello to you to!"

"So this has been the first time you have really come forward for interviews isn't it?"

"That is true."

"Now can I ask why that is?"

"Well, I don't really enjoy the attention and I find it rather unnecessary. The only reason I'm here today is 'cause Matthew's out with his new wife on their hunnymoon so." Alfred said as the interviewer nodded, revealing the rows of pearl white teeth between the thick red lipstick.

"Again, it is such a pleasure to be meeting you and thank you so much for being our guest for today!" Alfred smiled a bit, itching his neck with embarrassment as the crowd cheered again, most of them coming from the females.

"So, can you please tell me about your products please Mr. Jon-" Alfred raised a hand up, stopping the woman as he flashed a bright smile. "You don't have to call me Mr. Jones, Alfred is fine."

"Well, Alfred." the interviewer said, feeling comfortable with the name. "Would you please explain to me your products?" Alfred reached down onto the ground and picked up the first thing his hands found, looking at it before he recognized it.

"This, unlike the rest of our products, is something you have to install actually. It something you connect to the system of your oven and the little gadget u stick in the inside the oven and when it senses too much heat it automatically shuts the oven down so there won't be any horrible incidents." He put the box he was holding back to the ground by his feet before picking up the other.

"This is a tool that makes it more convenient when cutting so you don't end up slicing your finger or anything!" The crowd chuckled a bit as he reached down to pick up the last item.

"And this is-" he bagan to say before he looked at it. "the frying pan! My favorite" he said excitedly as he looked at it, smiling brightly. "it's a frying pan that can extinguish itself whenever you need it to. If you end up setting your food on fire while your flying something you pop the lid on, press the button and the water that is stored in the this box." Alfred said as he tapped his finger on a black rectangle on the top part of the frying pan. "And sprays water down onto the food so the fire will be exterminated!"

The crowd clapped, Alfred looking at the crowd and the interviewer as he leaned back in the loft chair. The interview continued to ask more questions, ranging from the products to how Matthew was doing with his new wife. Some time passed as someone silently motioned the interviewer, the womankind turning her head to the side, nodding a bit before she turned back at Alfred.

"So, I am sorry to announce that our time together is running out so I have one last question for you, which I think is from the ladies." the interviewer said as a part of the crowd cheered with excitement. Alfred looked nervously as he waited for the question.

"There is no way a handsome man like is alone, so we were wondering if there was a special someone in your life right now." Alfred stiffened for a light moment before turned away from the interviewer to look at his hands.

"You do? You do?!" The interviewer said as she became excited.

"Well…" Alfred said as he itched his neck again before looking back at the interviewer.

"Let's just say this puppy is still waiting in the rain."

The crowd murmured in confusment as the interviewer looked over at the camera and said, "Well ladies and gentleman that is the end to our show tonight. I hope you all had a wonderful time and thank you Alfred for joining us today, I hope I meet you some time in the future again."

"Oh me too, I had a wonderful time and everything. Thank you so much!"

"It's really nothing Alfred, don't worry about. I hope everyone has a good night, once again thank you and we will see you next week!" The crowd continued to cheer as the two talked a bit, the interviewer laughing as the camera zoomed out.

In the room squeaked a chair as it slowly spun around, the warmth leaving it as a rare light filtered through the room, the apartment door shutting the room back into darkness when it closed with a bang. The man before, was nowhere to be found.

In the end, it wasn't money that Arthur wanted to fill the empty hole in his heart with. It wasn't money that he was missing, it was love.

It just so happened that the offer ended up coming before the confession.

But that didn't mean their love for each other wasn't strong.


End file.
